COVID Virus Inspiration Courtesy of the Earth

May 19, 2020 by Doug Dillon 2143 0 0

During this most difficult time of the Coronavirus pandemic, I have been keeping myself busy by teaching my 5-year-old granddaughter about geography on my iPhone via FaceTime. She and her parents only live 15 miles away but, we haven’t been able to maintain our close relationship in person for some time now. The FaceTime thing has been challenging but by tapping into my old career as a social studies teacher, we’re on our way and so far, having great fun. And in the process, I was startled to find tremendous COVID virus inspiration that I didn’t even know I needed from none other than our own planet.

I realize that sounds cryptic and strange but, let me explain. As part of my lesson planning, I’ve been scouring the Internet for geography related videos appropriate to use with a 5-year-old. After finding quite a few at the preschool and elementary school levels, I dug even deeper, wanting to quickly be able to give my granddaughter a truly full sense of Earth’s beauty and majesty as well the connectivity of all people.

Yup, a very tall order indeed but one that got rapidly filled when I focused on the northern lights and viewing the continents from space. Enter NASA and the International Space Station (ISS) to primarily meet my objective and lead me into my COVID virus inspiration.

Years ago, I had seen slices of NASA vids of earth from space but not the one I came upon in my lesson plan search: the one I want to share with you. This video is in time-lapse format since the slowness of a satellite circling the earth can’t possibly give you the fullest impact from what you are observing. As you will see, spread out below the ISS are the continents, oceans and seas with our planet’s atmosphere impossibly thin, but life-giving protective veil arching above it all.

Interconnected humanity: A COVID virus inspiration

Florida and part of Georgia at night

But, much of the 11-minute presentation is at night so that the light from linked population centers shine with a dazzling radiance. And blending with the atmosphere are the northern lights colorfully gyrating and pulsing like a living thing, giving evidence of the earth’s magnetism that shields it and us from the full effects of the sun’s deadly blasts.

COVID virus inspiration exploding in the night

Bursts of lightning far below

Moonlight reflects off the oceans as clouds shoot by between you and the earth, some exploding into vivid flashes, the pop, pop, pop, pop of darkness hidden thunderstorms. Then dawn rushes towards you with lightning speed beginning a new day and the moonlight on the water is replaced by the brilliance of the sun. And so, you might ask, that’s all very nice, but where is this COVID virus inspiration you keep talking about?

Well, it’s hard to put into words, but here is the best I can do. I think that this video opened me up like nothing else to the delicate yet long-term endurance of human existence on this gorgeous planet we call home. I, like many others, had been so wrapped up in the sudden suspension of normal life just trying to get by one day at a time that, I had lost touch with a truer essence of being. In that essence, I saw humanity eventually continuing to flourish if we will but learn to live in more harmony with each other and this incredible planet of ours. And I guess that outlook gave me the hope that I hadn’t realized must have been starting to ebb just a bit.

So, it’s your turn to consider having a COVID virus inspiration. As you view the presentation below, see if anything I have said speaks to you as well. And once it’s over, you will find a list of other similar videos of value. The first is a shorter version of the one below (3 min.) and the second one is a stunning 7-minute movie of the northern lights in the Arctic Circle. No matter what, just enjoy and hang in there. We’re all in this together.