Why do I have a moon? What happened?
I’m not certain, but I think I suffered a severe trauma as a very young planet. A trauma caused by an impact with another celestial object. I was one and I was whole. But in that impact I lost a part of myself. A part that became disowned from me. Slowly drifting further and further away.
With time, life on me grew more and more complex – I grew more and more complex. A chemical soup, an atmosphere, water, life, plants, animals, human civilizations. But the moon, my disowned shadow, stayed in the same condition. A saddening lifeless rock, frozen in its development.
Still, I feel you. You affect me physically when you pull my oceans towards you and away from you. We are entangled in a dance, bound by gravity. And your light affects life here. But why do you have one face always turned away from me? Are you hiding something from me on your backside?
I travelled out in space. And I decided to go to the moon. I don’t know why. Perhaps out of curiosity. Not because it was easy, but because it was hard. Still it seemed that the distance was feasible. I wouldn’t have gone that far away hadn’t you been there.
So finally, after 4.5 billion years of separation, I landed on you. A tiny part of me, one of my species, walked on you and reconnected with you. Touched you. And what did I find?
I discovered myself. Through the eyes of this species, for the first time I saw myself. I couldn’t see me from myself, but only from a distance. A pale blue dot in space.
Traumas are a natural part of development and life. We lose a part of ourselves. And sometimes, this shadow becomes the strongest force to our development.
Thank you moon. I can let you go now.
#selfie