World: You're Still Lookin' Fine

Shortly after midnight tonight I frantically checked my twitter feed to see if the federal government was going to shut down. This was of particular interest to me, because my brother is currently in China without a passport after he was mugged a few weeks ago. He has a business trip he needs to fly to next weekend, and if all went well his new passport should have arrived before the trip. But, if the government shut down, he would be at a serious loss.

Fortunately, the government did not shut down; the bozo's in Washington were able to crap some sort of agreement out at the last minute. But it was an ugly road getting there and it looks like an ugly road to come. Beyond that, the country is still suffering deeply with unemployment, our environmental policy is in shambles, and we are in three "wars" overseas. On a personal level, my brother has been dealing with the physical loss and mental struggles of being assaulted and robbed, I've been struggling with my future, and my family has been wrestling with how to stay close while spread across the globe.

But as a checked my twitter feed tonight, yes, I saw that the government was not shutting down, I saw the opinions of those frustrated with the deal, others only half satisfied. Yet there was one tweet the stuck out to me, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (@NASA_GoddardPix) that read: I think we all look good tonight, and attached was a fresh image of our world in its entirety (so called a "full-disc" image). And despite all the problems going on down below, yes, we did look beautiful.

I was really stunned by this. What a beautiful sentiment-- when everything looks so bleak and dreary, take a step back and find the beauty in it all. The world is a beautiful place. Literally. And just as this giant rock rolling through space has an intrinsic beauty to it, so too do the people around us. We just need to step back and take another look.