24 Years Complete
Happy birthday to me! Sharing my reflections on being a human being (and also the end of my trip)
I flew out from Vietnam at the same time as the eclipse.
It was a little strange to think about my friends looking up at the sun. For me it was nighttime. The entire sun and moon were hidden as I took my turn in the shadow of the earth.
Time gets distorted on flights. I saw the sun rise twice on April 9th. Once in Seoul, South Korea. Once in San Francisco. The labels on time — ICT, KST, PST, CST, EST — felt even more artificial. I kept a stopwatch running so I could have one number, just to myself, on how many hours passed since my first takeoff.
In my last week and a half of traveling, I explored historical sites in Southeast Asia.
I read in the libraries of Angkor Wat. I walked on jungle roads past termite mounds and monkey crowds, marveling at stone ruins built by Khmer people centuries ago. I crawled through the Cu Chien tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City. I visited the War Remnants Museum, where I witnessed the preserved atrocities of the Vietnam War.
I learned much about my country’s history in Vietnam, like how guillotines were used in American-sponsored prisons. Boeing’s original death machines — the bombers and helicopters — were on somber display. Conjoined fetuses disfigured by Agent Orange were preserved in formaldehyde vats. The walls were covered in quotes from activists at the time, calling for the US to end its genocide in Vietnam, similar to the calls we hear today.
Despite the grim truths history reveals, I was also inspired. Today, UNESCO funnels international resources to reconstruct Angkor Wat and the surrounding sites. The cities of Vietnam no longer live in fear of war, and instead teem with food, art, music, and greenery. Despite historical cycles of violence, humanity is blessed with the resilience to grow and rebuild.
All parents wish the best for their children, challenging each new generation to improve the world before passing it on. This is the story of our species, a species of habit. We hope to repeat the good patterns but not the bad.
I want to conclude this post with a reflection on our patterns and histories: What moments in your life do you wish to repeat? Like the predictable cycles of eclipses, our lives are full of recurring moments. But unlike the moon, we have some control over our orbits.
This blog post is part of Daniel Rowe's Blog, Offworld, exploring joy through mediums such as science fiction, fantasy, journalism, and more.