Everyday Canvas

Our Human Collective

Prompt:
"Don't let anyone tell you the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon."
Write about this in your Blog entry today.

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Although this quote is re-quoted by a few other people, Buzz Aldrin the astronaut said it first. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/570233/buzz-aldrin-quotes

I believe Buzz Aldrin explains what he means in the rest of the quote much better than I could. So I googled it, and in its entirety, the quote says: " Don't let anyone tell you the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.—and I made some of them! So don’t allow anyone to denigrate or inhibit your lofty aspirations. Your dream can take you might higher and much farther than anyone ever thought possible!"

Oh, wow! And he's so right in essence, and in the same vein, here's another quote from one of my high school teachers that may explain what Buzz Aldrin means. "Never give up; try, try, and try harder. It can be done."

After all, this astronaut did walk on the moon, didn't he! As such, we do appreciate our astronauts because we appreciate their years of training and education. When they achieve a milestone, our astronauts honor us. We applaud them, not because they set foot on the moon or maybe later--much later, after my own lifetime--in other galaxies, as well; but because their egos help to boost our own collective ego. Still, I rejoice that, here, the human ego is speaking, and there's nothing wrong displaying our human egos, collectively or not.

The ego is the conscious part of the mind responsible for dealing with reality and navigating the external world. One of the key functions of the ego is to maintain a sense of identity and self-awareness. This self-concept contributes to a person's self-esteem and influences how they relate to others. Luckily, I can recall this much from my own meager training in psychology and thank you, Sigmund Freud.

Come to think of it, this human collective-ego is also implicated in various psychological defense mechanisms for protection from anxiety and discomfort. These defense mechanisms--such as denial, repression, and projection--serve us so we can maintain a positive self-image.

Yes, here, the astronaut is egging us on. And most educators know that the younger or the more naive set can gain more ground, if praised rather than put down. I mean, how would it look like if some other important person would say, "You guys are a nothing, for you're only passers-by on a planet that is probably less than one-millionth of a dot on the vast expanse of the universe"?

That assumption, too, would be correct when or if we could be able to look at and examine the structural components of the whole universe. Yet, from our tiny place and our tiny points of view, we still applaud our own quests and perceptions, so we can think we may survive, and even take over the entire creation.

After all, even the tiniest microbe can bring down a huge body.


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