We Get to Carry Each Other
Jan. 11, 2012
Watching a video of U2’s “One” featuring Mary J. Blige this weekend brought me back to the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan waiting for the countdown and my launch to space – and inspired me to write this post.
Just before entering the Soyuz on April 4, 2011
During the two and a half hours between the time Sasha Samokutyaev, Andrey Borisenko and I entered the Soyuz spacecraft and our launch, we had specific tasks to perform, but most of the action was taking place on the ground and in mission control. Music was piped into our capsule, including, “One.” I particularly like this song because the lyrics really capture the “Orbital Perspective,” and, I also listened to it quite frequently while in space.
One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...life
One
I think both U2 and Mary J. Blige demonstrate an unwillingness to accept the status quo. Through their efforts, most notably Bono’s ONE, the song's namesake, and MJB’s FFAWN . They demonstrate a commitment to leave the world a little better than they found it.
Mary J. Blige (who, by the way, attended my alma mater Roosevelt HS in Yonkers, NY) co-founded FFAWN, The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, which is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire women to gain the confidence and skills they need to reach their individual potential through programs that foster education, career development, strong self-esteem, and personal growth.
Mary J. Blige and I went to the same high school, and briefly, "shared" this view of our beautiful fragile oasis as I photographed her CD from the International Space Station cupola.
Bono co-founded ONE, which is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.
The Irish band U2, including Bono (top photo) and The Edge, visited Johnson Space Center with their families
ONE and FFAWN are just two examples of thousands of organizations around the world working to improve life on our fragile oasis. Our Collaboration Project is striving to connect humanity's changemakers to the challenges of our planet -- and to each other -- through a universal, open source platform that will help achieve common goals. Stay tuned for more.
Other posts by this author
- The Orbital Perspective of Nicholas Kristof
- An Invitation to Participate in the International Space Apps Challenge
- LAUNCHing Ideas for a Waste-less Tomorrow
- The Collaboration Project
- Coming Back Down To Our Fragile Oasis
- A Tale of Two Homecomings - Part 2
- A Tale of Two Homecomings - Part 1
- Plunging Over Niagara Falls In A Burning Barrel. And More.
- The Story of the Birds and the Bees - Goodbye to Space
Jan. 14, 2012
D.M.J. M.
Wow, that's awesome!! Its so great how you have been involving musicians Col., Peter Gabriel, U2, Frampton... Your use of various media and networking platforms for the promotion of space has been truly stellar. It also helps to get the artists ideas out there, win-win :)
Jan. 14, 2012
D.M.J. M.
and I should also say that I hope everyone who also appreciates your efforts in this regard will consider putting in a twitter-vote for you on the shorty awards/heros catagory !!
http://shortyawards.com/
Jan. 17, 2012
Sara B.
Is there a "single most powerful way" that each of us can support this cause?
Jan. 21, 2012
Dave M.
Great post, Ron! Space, far from distancing the human spirit from the Earth and others, does quite the opposite. What an amazing thought! :-)