I'd rather be a space cadet.

by Tiffani Hillin
(Denver, CO USA)

I've always been enchanted by the sky.

My first memory of falling in love with outer space is in 3rd grade when my parents rented me a movie called "Space Camp". The story is about a group of students who go to a summer camp to learn to be astronauts and accidently get launched into space. They have to figure out, with very little experience, how to fly the rocket back home. After watching that movie, the feeling of liberation was almost unbearable. I knew I must learn to fly and I must go to space somehow no matter what the cost.

Soon we moved to Jacksonville, Florida where I lived on a Navy base and developed a strong desire to be a pilot. I went to air shows many times a year and enjoyed inspecting all the buttons and lights in F16's and big bomber planes. Many different kinds of airplanes flew over my house daily. From our house, we also got to watch a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. It was spectacular.

Around age 10, I found astronomy books at the library. When I first tried to look for Mars and actually found it, it gave me more confidence than all my years in elementary school combined.

Just looking at pictures of outer space seemed to give me a unexplainable peace. They made me feel good. Things like galaxies, comets and even storm clouds and lightning proved to me there were much bigger forces out there. Bigger than my parents. Bigger than any of us.

Now, my favorite thing to do is go through the Hubble photo collection and find the picture that attracts me the most and meditate on it.

I find it very powerful and almost overwhelming if I'm not grounded. More and more everyday I'm sensing that I am native of a different galaxy. My first guess has always been Andromeda. Though I also feel a strong connection to Alpha Centauri.

I could be from a great many places. Who knows?

Whether or not I "prove" this to my peers in this lifetime doesn't really matter to me. What matters to me more is how it helps me process my existence right now and deal with life, in general.

I think with every day that passes the mystery will continue to unravel and I will continue to pursue truth and freedom through what liberates me.

Even if it makes other people treat me like I'm not quite "all there". I'm very happy exploring other places. How could we not have the desire to shift awareness to another galaxy or planet, especially considering the environmental hell we're all living through here on this planet.

Everything considered... I'd rather be a space cadet.

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Avia's Response to this Celestial Story:

Hi Tiffani,

Thanks for this post. I'd rather be in the outer reaches too! :)

Your story is a great reminder that our childhood visions are part of our purpose - part of our path. I read someplace that humans are closer to their divinity as children (presumably because they haven't had enough time to become "socialized"). It's vital we revisit the universes we journeyed in while we were children.


Tiffany, your observance of the celestial heavens as a "Soul HQ" is a valid one, I think. I had this idea from an early age that the gaping void of space served as the womb to all life. Our scientists are discovering now, what childhood hunches have known inherently.

I especially appreciate your attention to the outer heavens as a prime destination in your meditations. To be sure, you are a soul of the cosmos, whose journeys are fathomless and limitless.

I also appreciate the image of Jupiter you posted. It's fitting. Jupiter is symbolic of limitless expanse - unconquerable passion - a wonderlust and enthusiasm that is postivitely contageous. And that's the feeling I got after reading your post.

Readers can learn more about Jupiter's symbolism here.

Or, let the imagination tip-toe through all the planet symbols here.

The symbolic planets of alchemy have their own brand of insights to offer too.

Lastly, kudos to you for caring more about your galactic lineage and how it can liberate you from limitation....and LESS about judgments of others. Rock on. Rock on!

Thanks again Tiffani, for sharing these stellar perspectives!

Brightly,
Avia

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