Interlude First Contact & Second Thoughts
Interlude
First Contact it was about connection.
Isn’t that the point of it all? A sister to share the burden of the memory you can’t bear to shoulder alone.
A lover to pick up your pieces and patch you back together after you shatter.
A child to take the worst of you and shape it into something better.
Whether we’re humans or extraterrestrials, we’re all looking for the same thing.
Someone to keep warm with through the cold nights.
As we hurtle across the vast emptiness of the universe, we search for someone to make the journey alongside us.
I know, I know, I can already hear you shouting warnings. “What if the answer to the question is as bad or even worse than I feared? What if I am alone in the universe? What if a predator lies in wait?”
We now know that predators do lie in wait.
Beasts. But we also know there’s a multitude of friendly souls out there.
Chupacabras, Helpers, unnamed but no less important others.
We humans too. A few brave souls have already come forward, humans among us who have long sheltered these intergalactic refugees.
Humans who, when asked, “Is there anyone here to help me?” answered with a resounding yes.
Are we alone? We have our answer. So should we keep shouting our question to the cosmos, or should we close our door and windows, batten down the hatches, and cower in fear?
To that I say, we have to be brave. We have to throw ourselves into the dark unknown because what we might miss is worth the risk.
Humanity isn’t built from a few pieces of DNA spliced together.
It’s built from connection and community.
We’re tethered to our friends and our family by something more than shared blood.
Life isn’t about the destination; it isn’t about the answer.
The meaning we crave is in the journey. It’s with the people we travel through life with.
It’s in the company we keep as we make our way around the sun.
In the words of Carl Sagan, “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”
Are we alone in the universe? Far from it.
Am I alone? No. Absolutely not. Answering those questions has forced me to reevaluate more than a few things about my life—including this podcast. Now, before you panic, no, I’m not going to quit researching and attempting to debunk the paranormal.
Nor am I going to stop making those banjo videos you all swoon over.
But some of my content will be getting an overhaul.
Including formally retracting my previous conclusions concerning werewolves and doing another episode on lycanthropy.
So maybe you can lycan-subscribe to hear more?
Sorry, I’ve been spending a lot of time with a toddler lately, and I’m working on my dad jokes.
I’ve always said I abide by science, that I’m willing to change and grow when presented with evidence.
Turns out change is something that comes naturally to a werewolf.
I’m not going to stop questioning. Certainly, I’m not going to stop being skeptical.
But I am going to be a little more open minded.
A little more accepting when I can’t disprove something.
So this is me saying I was wrong. Maybe there’s a lot more truth to the mysteries I investigate than I initially thought.
Though my podcast may change, I hope you keep listening.
Because you are the reason that I do what I do.
You’re the ones who answer the pleas for connection I shout across the airwaves.
You’re the universe that answers me. If you take anything from my words, I hope it’s this: We’re nothing without each other.
So keep shouting your questions, your hopes, your dreams to the universe.
Keep searching, because who knows who you’ll find out there.