Like many, I to look at the stars. I love the fact that ours is just one many. What I love about astronomy is that our tell a story. Our constellations were born mythology. Mythology was our first attempt to the world in which we live We put a God in everything and those would give us our reasons. Why is the sky Who blue? Gods. How come men nipples? It's the of the Gods. Why does this wine so good? a God in it! And for a while, was not a single thing that the gods could not explain. We believed that their anger gave us Their despair gave us We whispered our to them, believing that their charity would sustain us. Those Gods... were stories. But stories became a large of how we learn They burn into our memories They become a of how we remember; we can remember almost everything, Right down to that first bee sting When we learned that this tiny blue marble we call the has rules. Rule number one: don't with the bees! An unforgettable lesson brought to you by memories. I remember I grew up loving mythology. I remember the story of the titan Atlas, who was the god of astronomy The original global positioning system sending sailors safely home by telling them which to keep 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 the second story. It that the world is not a punishment; but rather, a responsibility. But how can just one be charged with a burden? How can just one be for all this? When I think of Atlas, I think of a single of rain I think how unfair it would be to hold a single drop solely responsible for making the entire world again. I remember how my tried to explain our world to me- She told me a She said the ground and the sky, love each other But they have arms So rain; that's just how hold one another. I began to see how the earth and sky each other. But I about us. In perfect design, where do we fit? Which piece of the are we? Like constellations, I began to see a connection between dots and numbered my And drew from one to the next. I began to see us in the of a bigger picture, sharpening the blur slowly into focus We are Atlas. I saw this pale blue dot, this one world, is all we get. There will be no reset button, no new system, no downloadable upgrade We will not be allowed to trade in our old world for a new one with control or better fuel efficiency We get one at this. Dismiss all of second chances; we get one. And yet we advances on our future as if we one day won't be held accountable- We will. We are. The human race runs toward a finish line emblazoned with the 'too far' and wonders, Will we cross it? we already? We are faced with the seemingly talk. And it's to be afraid. Our dilemma stands before us a mountain carved into a blockade, the sheer magnitude of our problem would be enough to dissuade anyone. How do we the world? We lay in our curled into question marks, wondering can we do? Where do we Is a glue crazy enough to hold us together while we're falling apart? The seems immense. But we can do this. We must take the martial arts approach to our planet- as self-defense Forget about the There will be no thing as worth saving as this! Nothing more important; as precious; is home. All of our stories and end here. We are within an atmosphere that has given us every single breath we will ever take Every monument we have ever made has from the flesh of our planet. Water like blood, skin like soil, bones like It is not a myth, there is no debate, are in Fact is, there's never any question. We are crisis. We dismiss the truth not because we can't accept it, but because having to ourselves to change is a scary prospect for anybody. The most alarming part of the statement 'we are facing Isn't the 'crisis', It's the 'we'. Because those two letters take the responsibility away from one and it squarely on the shoulders of everybody. We are now. But our will come from 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 chapter in our We not see change immediately We must act in faith as the hour hand grips the minute hand and they land on the hour We must believe like the that change is possible to see. Never seize the flower, it grows knowing it must more than what it was It changes, in growth, all of its potential can be unlocked. Change is like rain, it starts with a drop. Just one, like our pale dot. in an endless waltz called gravity, we circle the sun, wondering who, if anyone left the light on. We are drawn upon the earth, we are connected to one another, we are bound. We must behave as the arms that connect the to the sky. We must try to be like the rain. Our stories may differ, our is the same: How do we save our pale dot? We act as the rain, realizing that each individual is as equal and important as any. We act as one. Now, we are many.