I love the summer, which is what we call a time in Earth’s orbit when it’s tilted a certain way.
Imagine if the planet froze in its orbit during a season that wasn’t summer. The planet slowed down without anybody noticing and then stopped in its tracks. It was so gradual that nobody noticed it slow down. Still, the planet was stuck and then everybody noticed all at once.
The astronomers assured us that all the other stars were moving seamlessly on their own path. As far as anybody could tell, the other stars were just fine. Day by day it seemed like the rest of the universe was leaving Earth behind. Why wasn’t our planet hurtling along?
The scientists on NASA studied the current situation, looked back into the planet’s history, and consulted their musty books. They tried hard to figure it out, but they couldn’t. Instead, they engineered a solution to make it seem as if the sun orbited us. Let the planet trick itself out of the problem. Seemed logical, but nobody wanted to twist their perception. Was the only solution from science?
Slowly, people got used to this cold season where the cosmos, so magnificent and unexplored, seemed distant, untouchable, and–worst of all–unattainable. The whole of the universe was on its own path with a purpose, and Earth was alone without help. Even when people lived as if there were seasons, going places and spending time with their loved ones, the sense of cold and the lack of light was unwavering. Why was this planet alone?
Eventually it became the new normal, that sense of dullness that you feel when you see a wilted flower with crinkled petals that don’t glisten with fullness. Nobody understood, but maybe this planet was just different. People moved through their lives, but it felt superficial and mostly useless without the hope of a warm shine to look forward to.
Luckily, somebody had an idea. It was almost a disease, that idea. It spread slowly but surely. What they realized was that when they looked within, they saw all the sun they needed. Only when they understood the light inside and took the effort to accept themselves did they find a sense of summer. When they gave up on trying to satisfy the esoteric forces of an unforgiving universe, they found the planet moving again. And then it was like it had never happened. In a couple summers, almost nobody remembered the time the Earth was stuck.
Except it did happen. And for many, the lack of summer can be dark and cold. It’s difficult to picture seasons without summer, and it’s even harder to imagine a deeper sense of permanent unhappiness until it happens. For somebody struggling to find hope, sometimes all it takes is some love. It isn’t hard to give rise to the sun in another person when all it takes is a spark of friendly warmth.
Submitted by Anonymous
The Reflecting Pond 