experience
Space: the final frontier. An enduring sentiment that naively implies it’s the only thing left to discover, and positions it as something to chart, to conquer, to claim. But under the banner of progress, our thirst for understanding often contradicts what may be the fundamental purpose of space – and nature as a whole: to make us wonder. As a microcosm of the cosmos, the night sky teems with a kind of life that, unlike its earthly counterpart, can’t be neatly categorised or fully comprehended. It’s a shared inheritance – a ceiling we all live under, yet each interpret in our own way. For thousands of years, it has been an endless canvas for our imagination. A place where we connect dots to draw pictures, watch faraway lights flicker (are they stars? Planets? Or something else entirely?), and marvel at the shape of the moon. These acts are borne of allowing ourselves to wonder. We’ve always looked to the sky. In years past, it has aided navigation, timekeeping, understanding, and storytelling. But now, with maps, clocks, and
libraries on our phones, it’s settled neatly into the role of a backdrop – always there, forever changing, rich with stories both told and undiscovered. The same force that draws our eyes to the campfire and holds them there may also explain the awe we feel when stargazing, as we mirror our earliest ancestors who did the same. Perhaps the lesson here is that to wonder is human, and we can rediscover this skill. Africa’s wildernesses are among the best places to look at the night sky, not least because it’s often the only thing you can see. And here, in its unfiltered form, without artificial light diffusing its clarity, we’re reminded of our deep connection to something nameless and ancient, something that is felt rather than explained. On the grandest scale imaginable, the sky reminds us how much we still don’t know. Nature isn’t always close at hand, but wherever we are in the world – and in our day – we can look up, see it, and, if we linger long enough, start to wonder again.
Left The moon is a reminder that no matter how great, nothing is exempt from change.
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