View From The Great Beyond

Today's collage is inspired by the launch of Artemis II, heading farther into space than we've traveled before, laying the groundwork for further moon landing and space travel, including to Mars.

I'm also thinking today about Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents", the first two books in her unfinished Earthseed series. Set amidst a deeply dehumanized society led, in the second book, by a religiously zealous president who's campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again", the books - written decades ago - set the stage for a group of humans preparing to build a community in the stars. Deeply moving books, with harrowing plots, that force the reader to explore hard truths.

Earthseed was never realized in Butler's series, but today, in the real world, perhaps it has lift-off.

And so it's no wonder that tonight's collage is a mix of starkness and possibility, light and shadow. We fly through the heavens on the knowledge we hold, understanding that is but a speck in what the Universe has to share.

Godspeed, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. Humanity awaits your return.

Ending the day with a little paper and glue therapy, mini collages with a focus on the process rather than the product.