flying through the night

I just looked out of the window at sea of stars. I have vague memories of Winkin Blinkin & Knod but can't really recall much of their adventure.

I boarded this plane a few hours ago and grumbled to myself, old, giant Airbus with my knees touching the seat infront of me. Incredibly flying to a foreign country should feel fast in 4.5 hours compared to my usual commutes across the US but all I can think about at first is discomfort and the lack of my own tv at my seat for entertainment and things I've grown accustom to.

It amazes me how quickly I lost sight of this amazing thing I'm privileged enough to experience. I am flying over the ocean, a small spec in the universe, among the stars and in a matter of hours will arrive on an island that until recently I never even imagined I'd see. How incredible!

With a little reminder from the stars of perspective I am filled with gratitude for this amazing opportunity, to fly through the sky, to travel somewhere new, to eat airplane food as unappetizing as it is (I can't remember the last time I was served a meal on a plane), to the people who have made and continue to make air travel possible and to have this moment to celebrate even celebrate a bit of discomfort.

There has been so much incredible change just in my lifetime already - computers for example and the fact that at this moment I am holding and typing on a tiny one in the palm of my hand. iPhones are amazing and are already taken for granted. When I was learning to drive my mom liked to tell me "driving is a privilege not a right." So is flying and having a cell phone and a computer... there are all these things that have become such a part of this mainstream idea of every day life that we've begun to think of them as a "right" and not a "privilege" and we don't appreciate how amazing they are we just expect them. We need to work to keep the appreciation for these amazing privileges we have and pass that on to the next generations. And we need to be sure that we don't get so wrapped up in this technology that we lose track of celebrating what is right infront of us and the amazing accomplishments of mother nature.

So at about 2:30 am where I left and 6:30 am where I'm going without sleep and after a bit of a tangent and rant I am watching the sun come up, as I fly through the air with my iPhone and reminded that this is an amazing privilege and I am incredibly grateful to to enjoy this engineering and see this beautiful universe all at once.