I remember when I was in high school, my physics teacher took us on a trip to look at the stars. Well it wasn't a real trip because we were at a boarding school. But we all went to his house for dinner and then afterwards, walked over to the soccer field and looked up at the sky. He said you can tell a real environmentalist if they were the type of person who always remembered to look up. It reminds us of our place, and how small we really are.
I've always loved the wide horizons of the west, the way you can see for miles and miles of sky. But light pollution, smog, buildings and especially our daily lives can obstruct the view. We get so wrapped up in things that we forget where we are. We forget to look up. I know I do.
I've been editing a lot of footage lately for a documentary for work. Editing for me is a meditative activity. Sometimes I'll sit for hours observing the same 2 second clip, trying to get it perfect. Recently, that one clip has been of an interview with a 18 year old environmental leader from Inglewood:
The area I grew up in was pretty tough. Lots of gangs, lots of drugs lots of sex. The environment was something that was on nobody's mind. I didn't care. I did all the things an environmentalist isn't supposed to do-- I littered, I didn't recycle. I just didn't care.
But then I got this opportunity to go on a two week expedition to Wyoming. I was miserable. I hated it. And then there was this one night where I was sitting outside. It was midnight, and it was pitch black outside. And I just kept thinking 'I want to go home." But then I looked up and there was a meteor shower. I had never seen anything like it before. And i just sat there watching nature come alive all around me. It was beautiful. And I never wanted to leave that place. That's when I realized this is where I'm supposed to be. This is what I'm supposed to do.
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