Issue 9 - Hidden Lives

Hello and welcome to my weekly email newsletter, Deep Life Reflections: Friday Five.

Each Friday, I share five things I’m enjoying, thinking about, and find interesting, which you might also find useful. Check out the archive section on my website for all previous issues of Deep Life Reflections.

Here’s this week’s Friday Five.

1. What I’m Reading

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen.

I’ve had a long fascination with the Apollo Space Missions and the astronauts who became the face of them. This excellent biography helps shed light on the complex legacy of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. From Armstrong’s early years, to his distinguished career as a fighter pilot and test pilot, Hansen draws on unprecedented access to private documents, interviews, and archival material. As we explore Armstrong’s journey at NASA, culminating in the historic Apollo 11 moon flight, Hansen paints an intimate portrait of Armstrong as a quiet, humble, and courageous man. And a brilliant engineer and pilot.

But Armstrong was also a man shaped by tragedy. The loss of his two-year-old daughter, Karen, in 1962, had a profound impact on his life. He immersed himself in his work, and his experience with the most terrible kind of loss was a solitary one. He grieved alone.

Neil Armstrong's quiet humility and reluctance to embrace the spotlight stand in stark contrast to today's celebrity culture. His modest approach to life, despite achieving one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, reminds us it’s possible to be successful and admired while maintaining our humility and dignity.

2. What I’m Watching

A Hidden Life (2019). Directed by Terrence Malick.

A Hidden Life tells the story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who refuses to swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler during World War II. As a conscientious objector, Franz faces separation from his family, and the prospect of execution for his defiance.

I enjoy the films of Terrence Malick, a poetic philosopher-director renowned for contrasting beautiful nature with (human) destruction. A Hidden Life explores themes of faith, morality, and the power of individual resistance against an oppressive regime. The widescreen cinematography of the Austrian mountains is majestic, although this won’t be a film for everyone. It has a three-hour run-time, and the pace is unhurried (Malick spent three years editing the film).

The film is a deep meditation on the human spirit's resilience in the face of great adversity. The title ‘A Hidden Life’ derives its significance from a line in the poem ‘Middlemarch’ by the English novelist and poet, George Eliot. The relevant line reads:

"For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

The title emphasises the importance of ordinary individuals who make courageous choices, often without recognition or praise, and serves to remind us that the choices of individuals like Franz can have a lasting impact on the world and contribute to the greater good.

3. What I’m Contemplating

Do you recognise the photo at the top of this week’s newsletter? Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins took it. It shows his fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descending to the moon in the Lunar Module, with Earth in the background. Not only is it an iconic image that reminds us of the collaborative effort and human ingenuity behind the mission, it also holds a profound statement:

Every human being, alive or dead, is in the frame of this picture, except Michael Collins.

Take a moment to let that sink in. Matter cannot be created or destroyed. That means every human that lived up to the point of this photo being taken still exists; in some form, at least. While every human born since then was also in this photo; at least in some form (the materials that made them are still on the frame of this picture).

This photo always makes me think. Of both the unity and the vastness of the human experience: humble enough to know our lives are a slip of time; aware enough to know we can still find meaning in that slip of time and make a difference with the help of others.

4. A Quote to note

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist

5. A Question for you

What small, intentional actions do you take every day that make a positive impact within your community and the world around you?

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And don’t forget to check out my website, Deep Life Journey, for full content on my Pillars, Perspectives & Photography.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

James