Hello my dear friend,
Settle in right here,
Right now,
There is nowhere else you need to be and nothing else you need to do.
Just allow your body to become wonderfully heavy,
Melting into the soft support beneath you.
Take a slow deep breath in,
And as you gently release it,
Feel the warmth of safety and peace settling over you,
Like a soft familiar blanket.
You are utterly secure.
You are perfectly cared for.
Tonight,
We are going to take a quiet,
Beautiful journey.
We are going to drift up,
Past the blue marble of earth,
And arrive at a landscape of serene wonder,
The moon.
Imagine now,
Not a fast rattling rocket,
But a whisper soft arrival.
We are gently nestled into a comfortable,
Secure landing craft.
A pod designed entirely for peace.
Outside your large,
Perfectly clear window,
The view is breathtaking.
The black velvet of space is strewn with diamonds,
And ahead of us,
The magnificent,
Silent,
Ancient orb of the moon begins to swell in size.
Our landing is barely a sigh.
The gentle hum of the spacecraft's thrusters fades to silence,
And we are here.
The first thing you notice is the light.
We have arrived on the sunlit side,
But it's a light unlike any on earth.
Because there is no atmosphere to scatter the sun's rays,
The light is intensely bright,
Yet the shadows are just as intensely dark,
Offering the most dramatic,
Beautiful contrast you can imagine.
Everything is softly illuminated by this powerful,
Silver-white glow.
We step out,
Not onto harsh rock,
But onto a vast,
Rolling field of regolith.
Regolith is the lunar soil,
A fine,
Powdery substance formed over billions of years by micrometeorite impacts.
It is a soft,
Gray dust like fine velvet or talcum,
And it cushions your steps.
The sound,
Or rather the magnificent lack of it,
Is the deepest comfort.
Here on the moon,
There is no air,
Which means there is no way for sound to travel.
You are enveloped in the most profound,
Absolute silence you will ever know.
It's not an empty silence,
But a profound quiet that allows your own thoughts to become soft and slow,
Like clouds drifting across the sky.
Breathe in slowly.
There is no wind to hear,
No rustling leaves,
No far-off traffic.
Leave the quiet,
Gentle rhythm of your own heart.
We walk slowly,
One careful step after another.
In the moon's gentle one-sixth gravity,
Your body feels impossibly light,
Almost buoyant.
Each step is a graceful,
Slow-motion ballet,
A gentle,
Effortless hop.
Feel the soft pressure of the soles of your boots meeting the powdery regolith.
It is cool and dry to the touch,
Like very fine beach sand that has never known water.
Look down at the path we've created.
Our footprints are perfectly etched into the dust,
Sharp and clear.
They will remain there,
Undisturbed,
For millions of years,
As there is no wind or water to erase them.
Isn't that a lovely thought?
A permanent,
Peaceful mark of our gentle visit.
Let's pause on the edge of a great,
Smooth crater.
Did you know that the moon is actually moving away from the Earth?
It's true.
Due to the gravitational interaction that causes our ocean tides,
The moon is very,
Very slowly drifting away from us at a rate of about 3.
8 cm per year.
This process has been happening for billions of years,
A constant,
Gentle,
Cosmic dance that defines our whole planet.
Look up now,
Across the curve of the lunar landscape.
It's a palette of soft,
Subtle grays,
Dark charcoal,
Misty silver,
And warm top,
All softly bathed in that brilliant sunlight.
Your eyes adjust,
And you can see the slight,
Beautiful variations in the texture of the surface.
We find a quiet,
Protected spot,
A gentle depression in the lunar soil.
We remove our helmets,
Protected by a silent energy field that provides us with warm,
Breathable air.
Now take a slow,
Deep breath,
And let the smell of this ancient world fill your senses.
The lunar regolith has a distinct scent,
Often described as similar to gunpowder,
Or the smell of a spent firework.
Slightly metallic,
Yet strangely dry and comforting.
It is the scent of deep time,
Of pristine rock exposed to the solar wind for eons.
It's a clean,
Mineral scent that is entirely unique.
And now look up at the earth.
It hangs in the black sky like a giant,
Shimmering blue and white jewel.
It doesn't appear to move,
It is simply suspended,
Perfectly beautiful and peaceful.
Feel the profound distance,
And yet the perfect safety of where you are.
You are cradled on the moon,
The earth watching over you like a soft,
Magnificent lantern.
You are completely alone,
Yet you are connected to the whole universe.
The silence continues to envelop you,
Warming you from the inside out.
Your body is heavy,
Your thoughts are soft.
And the slow,
Buoyant weightlessness has made every muscle in your body relax.
The silver light is gentle on your eyes.
The soft,
Powdery dust beneath you is warm from the sun's unending rays.
We begin our slow,
Gentle drift back now.
Not in a ship,
But simply by allowing ourselves to float.
Up,
Up,
Just a little above the surface.
The deep silence of the cosmos is soothing your mind.
The gentle warmth of the silver light is softening your eyelids.
The perfect stillness of this ancient place is inviting you to rest.
You are light,
You are floating,
You are safe.
Feel the peace of the moon's gravity.
That gentle pull,
Easing every last tension from your limbs.
Just allow yourself to drift now.
Drifting.
Softly.
You are perfectly cared for.
Perfectly still.
Safe.
And sound.
Drift now into the soft,
Deep sleep that awaits you.
Drift now.
Drift to sleep.
Good night,
My dear friend.
