About The Project
STORY SO FAR
Hello, this is Jeff. This project started from working with my mentors, Frank White and David Beaver at The Overview Institute. We filmed interviews during presentations on The Overview Effect at Harvard University and The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
The idea is to condense these interviews into a series of engaging videos for YouTube, social media, podcast and other platforms.
Now I’m looking for collaborators to bring the quality and reach this project deserves. Especially looking for those that can assist with editing these interviews, or assist with social media and crowdfunding efforts.
Backstory
Frank White coined the term Overview Effect to describe the paradigm change the astronauts experience when seeing earth in space. Astronauts often echo the sentiment, that during missions to explore the vastness of space, the greatest discovery was the magnificence of our home planet. They talk about the fragility of life on this blue oasis in a seeming void of space. Astronauts share their newfound perspective through iconic photographs, videos, and stories from their experience.
While this experience has been the reserve of a select few astronauts, the emergence of civilian space travel starts to bring back space-faring stories from celebrities and everyday folks which will further change our paradigm about what it means to live on an integrated planet.
While images and stories of space and earth have been proliferating through our culture, they do not have quite the same impact as a first-hand experience. Kind of like travel photos, do not do justice to the actual experience of being in a completely different country and culture.
David Beaver explains the first-hand experience of the astronauts as a cognitive change, a rewiring of the brain, perhaps even a change of identification from a national identity to a planetary identity. He discusses that in order to make significant change in environmental and sustainability efforts, we must recognize that we all share the same planet and move to a more wholistic planetary identity.
Barbra Marx-Hubbard calls for a shift from using our power and technology for war and divisions to using that same power and ability for a more unified focus on saving the planet and humanity.
Personal Story
My father brought me up steeped in wisdom teachings that echo the sentiment that we must liberate ourselves from tribal, territorial identifications that just perpetuates conflict in society. With a free mind, we can recognize the greater reality of our interconnected nature. Awareness, recognition, and remembrance of what we really are inspires right action in the present moment.
Personally, I grew up with a creative strangeness that made it a challenge to fit into social groups. Not quite fitting in anywhere, I could see how people were influenced and shaped by the specific groups or traditions they identified with. I could also see how this limits our awareness and understanding of different cultures and greater connection.
Underneath the creative projects, I grew up with a disability that requires regular life-saving treatments. The challenges made me aware of the fragility of life and a profound gratitude for the time I have. This also brought a focus to work with passion and purpose towards a greater cause.
The narrative that fascinates me most about this documentary is about evolving from our separated identities which causes conflicts in personal relationships, politics, religions, and nations at war. This documentary hopes to inspire a more wholistic understanding of life on planet earth for the collaboration we desperately need at this time.
By sharing this message of planetary awareness, we can create a ripple effect that transforms the world.
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to keep up with the project as it develops. That would certainly motivate me to keep at it.