“The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of Earth, but how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive. We evolved on the same planet, and we have some shared things about how we love and live that are just universal. And the specialness and preciousness of that really is emphasised when you notice how much else is around it”.
Christina Koch and her fellow crew members on Artemis II will have felt a deep sense of humility as they orbited the moon earlier this month, some 25,000 miles from Earth, and for a precious (and precarious) 40 minutes, without any contact from NASA. As she commented (above) to colleagues onboard the International Space Station, being so far away makes you appreciate Earth even more deeply.
As we celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday, I encouraged the pupils at Packwood to draw parallels between this year’s mantra, “Our Power, Our Planet”, to one of our core values – humility. A reminder that we are part of something vast, but we are not powerless in looking after our world. Our collective power comes from us in our daily interactions with others and nature.
As pictures of Earth in its entirety, taken by Christina Koch and her colleagues were published on news across the world, so was dangerous rhetoric surrounding areas of our world where conflict threatens to cause destruction. As the astronauts looked down on one shared planet, we see differences and division. However, we do not need to travel thousands of miles away to gain perspective over what is important. The power we all have to care for earth begins – humbly – with each of us in our daily actions.
In recognition of the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough, our weekly themes this term focus on the environment. Rooted in idyllic Shropshire and with so many of our families so deeply connected with rural life, it is only right that we prioritise a connection with nature for our Packwoodians. My message to Packwoodians this week was that our power in protecting our planet comes from small acts, done consistently – not for recognition, but because they are right.
As Sir David Attenborough said, “no one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”.
