Like many, I to look at the stars. I love the fact that ours is one among many. What I love about astronomy is that our tell a story. Our constellations born from mythology. Mythology was our first attempt to understand the world in which we We put a God in and those Gods would give us our reasons. Why is the sky Who blue? Gods. How come men have the will of the Gods. Why does this wine taste so a God in it! And for a while, there was not a single thing the gods could not explain. We that their anger gave us lightning; Their gave us rain We whispered our desires to them, believing that their charity would us. Those Gods... were stories. But became a large part of how we learn They burn lessons our memories They become a part of how we we can remember almost everything, Right down to that first bee sting When we learned that tiny blue marble we call the world has rules. Rule number one: don't with the bees! An unforgettable brought to you by your memories. I remember that I up loving mythology. I remember the story of the Atlas, who was also the god of astronomy The original global positioning system sending sailors safely home by telling them which constellation to starboard. He taught us the stars, and in all this, while he held up ours Our pale dot. But Atlas is caught between two different of his story. In the first, he leads a rebellion against Olympus and is then to hold the heavens on his shoulders for eternity. In the second story, he is chosen to be the of the pillars that hold up the earth and sky. I prefer the story. It means that the is not a punishment; but rather, a responsibility. But how can just one be charged such a burden? How can just one be for all this? When I think of Atlas, I of a single drop of rain I think how unfair it would be to hold a single drop responsible for making the entire world clean again. I remember how my tried to explain our world to me- She me a story She the ground and the sky, they love each other But they have arms So rain; that's how they hold one another. I began to see how the earth and sky need other. But I about us. In this perfect design, where do we piece of the puzzle are we? Like constellations, I began to see a connection between and numbered my thoughts And lines from one to the next. I to see us in the context of a bigger picture, sharpening the blur slowly into focus We are Atlas. I saw that this pale blue dot, one world, is all we get. There will be no button, no new operating system, no downloadable upgrade We will not be allowed to trade in our old world for a new one with climate control or better fuel We get one at this. all reports of second chances; we get one. And yet we draw on our future as if we one day won't be held accountable- We will. We are. The human race toward a finish line emblazoned with the worlds 'too far' and wonders, Will we cross it? Have we We are with the seemingly impossible talk. And it's to be afraid. Our dilemma stands before us like a mountain carved into a blockade, the sheer magnitude of our problem would be to dissuade anyone. How do we save the We lay in our beds curled into question marks, can we do? Where do we Is a glue crazy enough to hold us together while we're falling apart? The burden immense. But we can do this. We must the martial arts approach to loving our planet- as self-defense Forget the cost There will be no thing as worth saving as this! Nothing more important; as precious; is home. All of our start and end here. We are sheltered within an atmosphere that has given us every breath we will ever take Every monument we ever made has come from the flesh of our planet. Water blood, skin like soil, bones like granite It is not a myth, is no debate, facts are in is, there's never been any question. We are crisis. We dismiss the truth not we can't accept it, but because having to commit ourselves to change is a scary prospect for anybody. The most alarming part of the 'we are facing crisis' Isn't the 'crisis', the word 'we'. Because those two letters take the away from one and rest it squarely on the shoulders of everybody. We are now. But our strength will come finding a way to share in shouldering the responsibility of turning the impossible into somehow Somehow, we do this. We can do this. We can dismiss apathy; we can reject We can be the new in our story We not see change immediately We act in faith as the hour hand grips the minute hand and they land on the eleventh hour We must believe like the seed change is possible to see. Never seize the flower, it grows knowing it must become than what it was It changes, because in growth, all of its can be unlocked. Change is like rain, it starts with a drop. Just one, like our pale dot. Caught in an endless waltz called gravity, we the sun, wondering who, if anyone left the light on. We are constellations drawn upon the earth, we are to one another, we are bound. We must behave as the arms that the ground to the sky. We must try to be like the rain. Our may differ, our goal is the same: How do we save our pale blue We act as the rain, realizing each individual drop is as equal and important as any. We act as one. Now, we are many.