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When Artemis II left earth’s atmosphere it carried more than astronauts; it carried our questions, our contradictions, and our belief that we can become something better than we have been.

I’ve been awe struck by images in the news – both grief stricken and elated. 

How can we be so full of contradictions? How can we launch rockets to the moon while at the same time target bombs over borders and beliefs? 

Inside our human history lives the capacity for wonder and the shadow of harm. The arc bends not from trying to be perfect, but from choices we make over and over again, to lean towards the light.

What does a journey to the Moon have to do with this? Everything. From space we see a single luminous sphere holding us all together, no sides, just one shared story with many colourful chapters. The journey is a delicate reminder that we belong to one another.

A mission like Artemis does not erase what is broken in us, but it does highlight our aptitude for cooperation. We can imagine a better future and build it together, across nations and disciplines, for unity and discovery. We can reclaim some dignity by choosing to see each other as fellow travellers on a fragile blue dot.

Our contradictions and conflicts will not disappear when Integrity lands, but we can choose which stories we cling to and which to amplify. 

Today, I choose to dream, collaborate and celebrate the human spirit that would dare to defy gravity by blasting four human souls into the darkness, trusting we will all find our way home.

Happy everything, indeed.