In Light-Years There's No Hurry

How seeing Earth through the eyes of an astronaut brings new wonder and meaning to life on our planet

One restless summer, anxious and dismayed by mounting crisis and conflict on Earth, poet and journalist Marjolijn van Heemstra learns of a phenomenon known as the overview effect. Experienced by many astronauts when beholding our planet from the remoteness of space, it’s a permanent shift in consciousness―an overwhelming sense of wholeness and connection with humanity and the planet. In Light-Years There’s No Hurry is the account of van Heemstra’s yearlong quest to experience the overview effect on Earth. We follow as she takes a night walk through a forest in search of true darkness, listens to the distant singing of exoplanets at a radio observatory, and learns of prisoners working with astrophysicists to imagine possible human settlements on Mars. Contemplating the solace a cosmic perspective offers in our frenetic, divided world, In Light-Years There’s No Hurry is a lyrical, searching meditation on what it is to be human amidst the vastness of the universe.