Our Stories in the Truth - See You in the Cosmos

Cover of See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng (Silhouette of a boy and dog. The boy listens to his iPod as its chord flies up to the book title and red rocket above. They’re both looking up at the stars.

“On the Golden Record there isn’t anything about the times our rockets failed, even though they did. That’s because my hero wanted to put our best foot forward. He didn’t want to put in anything about our rockets exploding because what if you guys saw that and thought we were trying to make them explode on your planet? Then you’d probably be scared and hide from us. Or maybe you’d try to blow us up before we could do it to you.

But my hero also said that knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good. I wanted to put my best foot forward just like my hero, but I believe in the truth too, so that why I’m telling you guys what happened…why I’m telling you my rocket crashed.”

- pg 69, New Recording 14 of Jack Cheng’s See You in the Cosmos

I often tell my students the following story:

“My darlings…in 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were stepping upon the the lunar surface, astronaut Michael Collins (yes, the 3rd one) was flying the Apollo 11 command module around the Moon. When Columbia passed to the far side, for 48 minutes, he lost radio contact with everyone. Everyone in Earthly existence. It’s been said, “not since Adam has any human know such solitude.” I’ve even heard people call him, quite literally, “the loneliest person.” Except, that version of him is not true!”

They wake from their solemness at that twist. So I continue…

“No. You see, Collins said that instead of feeling lonely, he felt “awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, and almost exultation.” I’ve seen interviews with him. And he said quite plainly how much he felt a part of the mission of THREE men, a 3rd of the late president’s dream. I’ve even seen one where he said, he enjoyed the silence!”

The children wonder aloud why I told them story. Well, it’s usually to introduce the book I will talk about today, yes. And it’s something else too…

It’s funny though how we create narratives when we don’t know the truth about others or ourselves…especially when we’re searching for something. I tell them to remember this whenever they’re writing or making some other kind of art.

That brings me to this reflection’s book. See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng.

This is the story of 11 year old Alex Petroski, a rocket and space loving boy who’s trying to follow in the footsteps of his hero the late Dr. Carl Sagan. It’s told through his POV.

Actually, it’s his many audio files via his spray-painted Golden iPod. See, Alex is recording sounds from Earth for possible extra terrestrials. He plans to launch his homemade rocket - what he calls Voyager 3 - into space at a convention.

Now Alex lives his mother, who doesn’t pay any attention to him. His older brother works some states away. His father is gone before he can remember.

So at the beginning of the novel, he ends up leaving home to go to the convention ON HIS OWN. Well, with his dog whom he calls Carl Sagan.

On his journey he meets several people. And they all end changing each other’s lives in ways I can’t begin to explain (without spoiling it).

I will say, the rich exchanges and heartrending twists make this journey so worth the read. You gotta check it out. It’s a wonderful, serious, hilarious, and sensitive book.

Actually, that’s how I’d describe the main character Alex too. You love him and love with him immediately. At least I did. But I don’t think that’s just because we both love space!

It’s that he’s so innocent. Like a kid much younger, he’s still astounded with existence. He’s also kind - he trusts and holds up people highly. Though I do worry for him as a reader. He doesn’t understand words beyond the the literal sense, which makes you question his maturity. And though he knows a ton about outer space, he doesn’t seem to know too much about how things work on Earth between people. To the point that you wonder why, but as you learn more about his life, you’ll see. Again, I don’t want to spoil.

What I wanna talk about in this essay is something that I find noble about Alex.

That’s his search for truth.

A deep part of his journey involves looking for his father. A lot of the book is actually a father quest. And it’s interesting that like people assumed things about Michael Collins, Alex assumes things about his father. He creates entire narratives of the man, narratives that he really believes without evidence. But he does want to know the reality, so he is willing to go deeper down than his own made up story. Most grownups aren’t willing to do that!

So let’s come back to loneliness though. Alex is a loving person, he’d consider himself a happy person. But when you listen to his recordings, you can’t help but create your own narrative. His mother doesn’t even take care of him, his brother left home, his father is missing. He’s not talking to them as he should be. He’s talking only to us (us as aliens!) throughout this novel. This seems like one lonely person.

You know, there are many ways to experience loneliness.

Helen Keller once said, “Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.” Why do I bring that up? Well, Alex models his golden iPod after the Golden Records. THE Golden Records.

For those of you who don’t know, the Golden Records are two phonograph records abroad the Voyager Spacecrafts that were sent out into the universe with the possibility of being found by intelligent extraterrestrial life. They contains 116 images and a variety of sounds - including many beautiful songs from Earth.

The two last songs are “Dark was the Night” by Willie Johnson, who was blind. And the “String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major Opus 130: V. Cavatina” by Ludwig van Beethoven, who was deaf.

Now neither of these artists had the easiest lives. Johnson was blinded by his stepmother and one day would died sick, homeless, and alone. Beethoven was abused by his father and as an adult he would become a musician who could not hear.

Now it’s my turn to imagine a narrative. I’m almost sure these two artists were very lonely. No one would take Johnson in as he got sicker and sicker. Beethoven existed before there was civil rights for the deaf, let alone language and community.

There’s something else too. I posting a link of there two songs from The Golden Record. Listen…

Here’s Johnson’s song…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8AuYmID4wc

Here’s Beethoven’s song…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFp_NuSw9B8

Often, I can’t listen to these two songs without feeling tears for some reason. But I wonder what the artists actually felt. I can imagine, but I don’t know for sure.

Without getting too personal, I get what Alex is doing. I lost my father on the cusp of age 5, and, in a way, have been on a father quest throughout my life too. And I’m often torn between creating narratives and seeking the truth. I think everyone is when they come to their own journeys.

I don’t know what Johnson or Beethoven would say if I could tell them about their beautiful songs being on the Golden Records out in the universe. That their music may perhaps one day be the only shadow of evidence that we were here.

I’d like to imagine it would change some of their pain into light.

Sometimes I wonder if…if aliens ever hear those songs, would they feel the Earth’s own pain of feeling lonely? I mean, aren’t we lonely as a whole? As far as we know, we are alone in this Cosmos. It’s unlikely, even if they’re out there, we’ll ever meet them.

I just don’t know.

And yet…that not knowing is a strange sensation…I think one of the beautiful things about this book is that it’s gonna leave you with more uncertainty about the cosmos than you had before.

On that note, let me leave you with a recording from Alex talking to someone who he meets on his journey…

“ALEX: But don’t they love each other? If they’re in love, why would they fight…

TERRA: It’s—it’s complicated. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you never get into fights. But when you really love each, you can work through it, usually.

ALEX: Terra?

TERRA: Hmm?

ALEX: Have you ever been in love?

TERRA: I have, once.

ALEX: Was it your fling?

TERRA: No, this was different. It was real.

ALEX: But…I don’t get it what’s the difference between real love and not-real love? How do you know that time was real? How can you tell?

TERRA: It’s something that you can feel deep inside. It’s like, when you feel it, you just know. It’s hard to describe.

ALEX: Is it wanting to French-kiss somebody?

TERRA: Sometimes it involves that, but it’s much more than that too. There’s a part of it that’s, like, letting go. Like a sacrifice but in a good way. You trade a part of yourself for something that’s even bigger than you, and it feels good but weird at the same time. It’s totally worth it, though.

ALEX: But how do you know? There has to be a way you can know. Can’t you measure their heartbeats and brainwaves like my hero did? Can’t you tell from those? And also you JUST said you can tell Ken and Mrs Russel are in loves o how do you know?

TERRA: Mmm…maybe you can’t really know, from the outside. Maybe only the people who are in it can really know.”

-pg 204-205, New Recording 34 of Jack Cheng’s See You in the Cosmos