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If I Were an Alien
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 29, 2008
The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.
~ Kilgore Trout, (Philip Jose Farmer), “Venus on the Half Shell”
Scientists think the possibility for life in the universe does exist. The evidence for other planets that could sustain life increases as our technological advances find more and more planet like objects. In the remake of the movie, War of the Worlds by Stephen Spielberg there was no first contact, nor a friendly greeting, like we saw in Spielberg’s other alien movies. This was an attack on the planet. What was their motivation? What did they really think of us? Why was there no getting to know you moments?
When you think you are the only one in the world it is hard to understand another point of view. In some ways we become myopic in our vision - seeing just through a limited lens of experience.
Everything you’ve learned in school as “obvious” becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There’s not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
~ R. Buckminster Fuller US architect & engineer (1895 - 1983)
In one writer’s group I belong to, we submit work the week before to be critiqued on the day we meet. Without giving too much away, one friend submitted a poem of just punctuation. I had to smile when I saw the piece. Once again, I am forced to set aside my thoughts on what makes a good poem and look with new eyes. The frame, which I use to critique work, does not fit here.
So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.
~ Brenda Ueland
If I were an alien, what would my world be like? On my imagined home planet the soil is just a reddish brown color. All my people are basically the same height and weight. We speak a common language except for the ones who live on the opposite side of the planet who rarely see the sun. They communicate with their eyes and it is so subtle it takes years to learn the nuances. If I were an alien, how would I view this world if I saw it for the first time? Would the variety of people language and landscape frighten me? Would I be angry? Or would I be in awe of it all?
As creative people we need to stir things up to get those creative juices flowing. Expanding our vision increases the possibilities of new and interesting things we can do in life and with our art. Keep your options open and see with new eyes.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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