Like many, I’m glued to the Artemis II lunar mission updates. As I watch the crew break records and name craters and express their absolute awe about our beautiful earth and moon, I keep crying. Not just because of the enormous collective effort and intellect required to send humans into space but because of the individual stories.
Like Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist. Earlier this week, I was scrolling through her Wikipedia page to learn how her education and career experiences built led her to this historic experience. Unsurprisingly, the “early life and education” section of her profile says this: “From an early age, she aspired to become an astronaut.”
I read this aloud to my husband, who said, “I think it would be hard to become an astronaut if you didn’t aspire to it from an early age.”
From what I know about the process of becoming an astronaut (most of which I learned from retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s memoir and the fictional but well-researched novel Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid), it is extremely rigorous and competitive.
Those hoping to become astronauts must orient their entire educational and career journey around specific credentials, experiences, and physical requirements. And even then, the odds are against them. Since NASA selected the first astronauts in 1959, there have only been 370 NASA astronauts. Total.
As a child, I briefly aspired to become an astronaut. Specifically, I wanted to be an astronaut veterinarian. To take care of the dogs in space, obviously. As it turned out, math and science weren’t my best subjects, and then the creative arts stole my heart.
RIP to the woman in STEM I might have become 🪦
I’m not actually grieving that particular dream, especially since astronaut veterinarians don’t exist (yet!). But some roads not taken do sting a little. I bet you have some too.
The subject you almost studied. The degree you didn’t get. The company that didn’t hire you. Occasionally (not often), I daydream about different versions of my life, people I could have been had I made different choices: the professor, the museum curator, the cinematographer, the Olympic ice dancer.
At first glance, this sentiment seems to contradict what I said two weeks ago. “The right things have a way of finding us,” I said. “Nothing good gets away.” But I think we can hold both ideas simultaneously — trusting the path we’re on and giving space to feelings of regret or “what if.”
And if something nags at you enough, maybe that’s a sign to pursue it!
Unfortunately, you’ve likely missed your chance to be an astronaut or an Olympic athlete, but there are lots of things you could do. I recently saw a story about a woman who started med school in her 50s!
Some pivots don’t even require a fancy new degree or retraining, just grit and a commitment to pursuing your dream. I’m a big believer in chasing your goals and not ignoring them or leaving them for “someday” (which is often code for “never”).
That’s another thing I love about the Artemis II mission: witnessing these astronauts pursuing and achieving their dreams — literally, in the case of Reid Wiseman. He recently (like, while he was in space) shared this tweet from ten years ago:
Doesn’t it just 🥹🥹🥹🥹
And think of all the future astronauts watching mission updates with stars in their eyes and deciding to orient their lives toward this dream. Some of them are just 8 or 9 years old. Isn’t that inspiring?
Maybe one will be the first astronaut veterinarian 😉
See you next week,
Kara
Kara Detwiller is a writer and creative based in small-town Saskatchewan. She specializes in long-form content writing for enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and manufacturing clients. She is also working on her first novel, among other creative pursuits. To connect, reply to this email or find Kara on LinkedIn.
Why Wishful Working? I want to help people thrive in a world obsessed with work and productivity. Together, we’re expanding the definition of productivity, rediscovering life balance, and exploring the many kinds of work that make life possible.
