Welcome to Celestial Citizen. I’m opening the virtual doors to something that has held my mind captive for longer than I care to admit. It’s finally time for this conversation to reach a life of its own, bring more people to the table, and hope that this future vision that shapes my entire world view might also galvanize an audience of spirited star-gazers to demand better for Earth and beyond. The dark void of space beckons to be filled with thoughts and dreams not of one person, or even a few, but with the enchanting cacophony of the collective Earth experience.

The dark void of space beckons to be filled with thoughts and dreams not of one person, or even a few, but with the enchanting cacophony of the collective Earth experience.

The time is now.

If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s that we can no longer wait – as uncomfortable as that may be – we are living in a time of urgency. Let us not delay to tackle the big challenges, atone and correct for past sins, and dare to be the age of humans that leapt into a new era of social and technological innovation. We must find a way to move forward if we are to find a means of surviving ourselves. The codependency of peace on Earth and peace among the stars can no longer be ignored. It is the instability of one will which will lead to the immutability of the other. 

Instead let’s use our collective future in space as a means of bringing greater intersectional justice to this miraculous planet on which we live. Let’s reject the status quo both here and in the Cosmos. Shed your national identity, your preconceived notions. Acknowledge your biases, don’t run from what you don’t know…confront your shortcomings with curiosity and kindness. Above all else…listen and consider. It will take all of us, it will take time (so much time), but we can begin the stumbling and awkward process of becoming a new humanity. 

We, who are bursting with stardust, can become celestial citizens.

“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”

– Rabindranath Tagore