Book 162 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: Per aspera ad astra

Book – Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson

Book Description: Restoring the drama, majesty, and sheer improbability of an American triumph, this is award-winning historian Craig Nelson's definitive and thrilling story of man's first trip to the moon. At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Rocket Men presents a vivid narrative of the moon mission, taking readers on the journey to one of the last frontiers of the human imagination.

Reflection:

What an incredible story of human achievement! I had chills thinking of the uncertainty and adventure that these brave souls must have experienced when they signed up to be the first humans to take a leap of faith on a flight into space and try to land on the moon.

Humans can do anything that we collectively set our mind to achieve. There is no better proof than us landing a man on the moon within 30 years of the first rudimentary rocket ever being created. It is truly a wonder to sit back and listen to the stories of genius, cooperation, problem solving, bravery, and sheer human will power it took to turn this dream of going to the moon into a reality.

For all the amazing accomplishments of the space race, the Apollo program, and landing men on the moon and safely returning them home; this wasn’t achieved without a significant toll on a lot of these brave pioneers. Hearing the human stories of lives of the astronauts and NASA employees was probably the best part about this entire book. We look at and idolize guys like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins like they are super heroes…they aren’t. They are flawed humans just like the rest of us that struggle to understand themselves and what this world is all about. That isn’t to discount what they did at all, but it was a reminder to me that the tangible things that we accomplish isn’t what makes us happy at the end of the day.

The book mentions a quote from someone that said, “God pity a one dream man”, when referencing Buzz Aldrin’s life and subsequent struggles through addiction that came after the moon conquest when he clearly struggled with his purpose on this Earth. After the moon shot, Buzz didn’t know what to do with his life. Buzz had been solely focused on this one thing and had forget that his main job was figuring out how to live a happy and sustainable existence. Once his “mission” was accomplished, there was nothing left when he returned.

So, if going to the moon doesn’t bring us sustained happiness, then what does?

For me, I think happiness is the journey, the struggle, the quest, the unanswered questions, helping each other, and living our individual and shared values together in a beautiful harmony. The 400,000+ NASA employees and astronauts were probably never more alive in their entire lives than when they were going through this time of their lives leading up to the landing on the moon. That 15 year build up prior to the moon landing was what it was really all about…they just didn’t know it.

This is what is what the space race and moon shot were all about at the end of the day. Humans uniting to do hard things and suffer together.

As JFK famously said, we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energy and skills”.

This life is not designed to be easy. There will be pain, there will be trauma, and there will be suffering in all our lives.

Through it all…WE ENDURE! This is the fundamental lesson that Emilia taught me through her battle and one that I will be burned into my memory until the day I leave this Earth.

I choose to live my values and my purpose every day, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. I will not be a one dream man and I will find and help as many others along the way to make sure we can enjoy this challenging journey together.

Per aspera ad astra (Through hardships to the stars).

Question: What do you choose to do that is hard, but is also replenishing and life sustaining?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson