Day 35 – Be Interested to Become Interesting 🧐

As it goes with my space obsession (or any obsession I’ve ever had), I suddenly want to know everything about everything… yesterday. In this mad dash to catch up, I’ve been bouncing between wonderfully wonky areas of research.

This morning, while walking to the bakery, I listened to a new podcast about the making of Star Trek. There was a really interesting interview with Dave Archer, the artist who painted many of the artworks for the show. You know those very 90s-feeling space paintings? He’s the guy who invented that technique.

Then, on the way back, I switched to the soundtracks of Hans Zimmer. I had no idea he was German, and I find it fascinating that his music has this eerie, beautiful quality because it sits somewhere between music and sound design.

Honestly, I don’t know how to stay calm when I discover a new area of interest. There are more cool things in the world than I could ever explore in ten lifetimes.

Those soundtracks reminded me of one of the scariest and most vivid dreams I’ve ever had. In the dream, I walked into a huge empty cinema, one of those ones that are always slightly too loud and have a curved screen. The room was empty and the film hadn’t started yet.

Then a sound came on. I think it was supposed to be some kind of system test tone, but it had so much more depth and vibration to it than normal. Suddenly, the screen filled with stars. Dark, mysterious space stretched out before me.

But as the sound continued, I realised something horrifying:
it wasn’t a screen.

It was real space, and I was floating into it.

That falling feeling, the terror of being lost in endless nothingness, jolted me awake.

I’m sure plenty of people dream of going to space, but I honestly think the scale and loneliness of it — not to mention the very long list of things that could kill you — is simply too much for my imagination to handle. I’m very happy to stay on this tiny blue marble, cozy under a blanket, reading about space instead.

It also made me think about the relationship between real space exploration, sci-fi, and art, and how they constantly feed ideas into one another. There is so much to learn about the impact the space race had on design and culture at the time.

How did people imagine space before we ever got there?
Will space hotels actually exist within our lifetime?

I know I’m a complete rookie when it comes to all this, arriving decades late to a party that has already been going on for years, but I’m still so happy to be here and to share that excitement with you.

When I was younger, I often wondered why some people seemed so interesting while others didn’t. I think I’ve finally found the answer:
you have to be interested in life first.

If you stay curious, if you let yourself become fascinated by things, you slowly soak up the world around you. Joy and passion carry you deeper into subjects, and over time that naturally makes you more interesting too.

What do you think?
Do you find space scary or exciting?
And have you ever thought about how the space industry might be opening up to a much wider range of people now?

I hope you are well wherever you are, with your feet firmly on the ground and your head happily in the clouds.

Celine