I watched Project Hail Mary. Five stars.
The premise involves a brilliant, but reluctant hero who becomes an integral part of solving an unexplainable cosmic anomaly threatening to eat the sun, and in turn, destroy humanity.
Takeaways: the sun is such a strange idea. Here is this large, ethereal burning mass floating in a distant place I’ve never been remotely close to that under unfortunate circumstances, could dim, resulting in the subsequent annihilation of all living things.
That’s a lot of power in an idea.
I say idea because the reality is, my understanding of the sun, what it is, what it does, what it looks like, etc. is predominantly second-hand.
Sure, I feel heat when I stand outside. I see a very bright white dot in the sky that hurts my eyes if I stare at it. I get a little sad after long periods of its absence. But those are the only three things I ‘know,’ by way of absolute certainty based upon my own experience as it relates to the sun.
What a precarious place we all exist in, teetering on the edge of comfort in supposed certainty and the unsettling knowledge that we’re all assumptive nincompoops. I can accept it.
Kobi Yamada wrote a children’s book called ‘What do you do with an Idea?’
It follows a child through the experience of meeting an idea, the judgment from peers that follows, desire to ignore the idea, then the realization that what the idea really needed was time, and as that time is freely given, devotion applied, the child comes to see the world differently. Embracing the idea changes who they are in the best way, inviting greater joy into their lives.
The book begins in a kind of sepia and as the idea expands, the illustrations, done by the talented Mae Besom, we see color begin to spread across the page.
The final line poses the question, “what do you do with an idea?”
The answer; “You change the world.”
What if you embraced the idea that you matter? What if you accepted wholeheartedly, that you bring something to this earth that no one in the history of creation ever has? I’m not talking about something tangible. I mean that your existence on this planet contributes to the collective whole in a profound and undeniable way, unrelated to what you do or produce? What if you believed in the idea that you have a divine identity and destiny?
What if?
Andy Weir wrote an incredible novel. Ryan Gosling produced and acted beautifully in it, sharing a message of love and hope in another form. Kobi Yamada created a book. And Mae Besom brought it to life visually. I wrote a journal entry, and now you’re reading it.
Now that you know, what will you make?
It’s a sunny day outside and I’m reminded that ideas hold great power.
That gaseous floating orb that miraculously sustains life on this tiny planet continues to do its thing. That’s a powerful idea.
And you know what you do with an idea?
In the words of Yamada, “…you change the world.”