Locavore

This past year I took an Earth Science class in which about 1/5 of the material was astronomy. Besides the meteorology unit, astronomy, like most of my peers, was my favorite. Learning about outer space is so abstract yet equally as relevant to life on earth. We are, after all, a part of our own universe.

By the end of the class, I knew so much about things that are trillions of light years away, and for each measure of knowledge I had double that in interest. I think it is human nature to obsess over astronomy and other non-tangible subjects. It's just cool as shit. But it is so far away, so irrelevant to our day by day existence.

I could tell you the entire life-cycle of a sun sized star and would find it exciting and ponderous. I could not, however, tell you my next door neighbor's last name. I will never set foot on the moon, but I know more about it than the people whose yard I cut across every morning. My favorite constellation, Cassiopeia, is only getting further from where I am, as the universe is endlessly expanding. Yet I feel closer to that thrown of stars than I do to the 7 year old twins that live down the block because I think about it and see it nightly. Those little twins are, unfortunately, of little concern to me. And although the Milky Way may collide with its neighboring galaxy, I will likely never talk to half the people on my own street. That is sad.

Why is the far-off prioritized over the locally grown? Why am I so much more interested in things that are so galaxies away than things that are in my own backyard? Why can't I just be happy with the tangible wonders I come in contact with daily, as opposed to obsessing over things that should be of no concern to me? Why can't I consume myself in local knowledge, rather than day-dream about stellar extremities?