Astronauts On Earth

Dear Lost,

We are all astronauts on earth. At some point in life, you will drop into this free fall - observing death and loss does that to you. It feels as if the rug has been pulled from beneath your feet, and you realise the floor is gone too. It’s a bizarre thing to feel your foot sturdy on the ground but there's a constant pit in your heart, like a never ending drop on a rollercoaster. But fall long enough, and the fear eventually gives way to a strange, unsettling weightlessness.

But weightlessness is fleeting. The gravity of loneliness crashes down when memories surface, and we believe no one understands our pain. But why would you want someone else to fully understand your pain? The only way to truly grasp it is to have endured the same suffering. Chances are, you wouldn't want to fully comprehend their pain either.

If I could turn back time and prepare my younger self for the grief to come, I would say this: Free-falling is submitting to circumstances. Learn to dive, so you can choose a direction. You see, there’s no point worrying about where you’re going to land because the only time you hit the ground is when your time on earth is up.

In space, astronauts experience weightlessness because they’re in a state of constant free fall. In space, there is no up or down. For us astronauts on earth, we can decide wherever we want to go once we feel this weightlessness. We don't traverse the stars, but drift among flickering human spirits - sometimes burning bright, sometimes reduced to embers. So we drift, often alone, but most times with fellow sojourners, and that is why I believe we are put on earth for. We grieve so that we can grieve with others, to catch them midway, teach them how to dive and let them go.

Perhaps, in the end, it's not about where we land, but how we navigate the free fall, and who we meet along the way.

Sincerely,

Tiramisu