Lunch with an astronaut

There I am, standing with Charles "Charlie" Walker, he's traversed the vastness of space 3 times, logging 20 days hurtling through a vacuum at 17,500mph. He flew his space missions in just 17months travelling over 8.2 million miles! 

I love it when memories pop up in your photo app! For sure I was younger back then with curious hair, but his story of pioneering, possibility and mental adaptability to change stayed with me and has become ever more relevant. So, what did I learn by listening during lunch with an astronaut?

Charlie was a rejected NASA applicant who became the world’s first commercial astronaut, talk about a masterclass in resilient self-leadership. He didn't just knock on NASA’s door, but when it resolutely shut, he found a side window. He made himself so indispensable to NASA they actually ‘needed him’ in orbit. It's more than a lesson on persistence, it’s a powerful lesson for all of us navigating the often-isolated capsule of managing change. How often in hindsight have we learned the most direct route isn't the only one, and often time, not even the best!

In terms of adapting to change, his description of the brain's frantic dance with space disorientation was memorising. When the shuttle's engines cut out, he recounted feeling as if the entire world had shifted. His internal compass spun wildly, demanding a complete rewiring of "up" and "down." He spoke of "Space Motion Sickness" not as a personal failing, but as the brain’s incredible, albeit uncomfortable, process of calibrating to a changed new reality. 

During disruptive change, like the type we experience more frequently than ever today we know already our brains are inherently wired for stability and resist new landscapes. Walkers discomfort a testament to our human neuroplasticity and capacity to adapt and grow even when our world feels utterly inverted. I mean, who hasn't felt like they're in an isolated capsule, experiencing that 45-degree shift. The key though? To re-calibrate our minds!

To hear him speak and share how in space he missed the "smell of the soil" and the "sound of the wind" while orbiting our pale blue dot….earth and seeing a world without borders was emotive on steroids. Our planet more fragile and fragmented than ever.

While we humans intimately understand the concept of a closed system, as we live and breathe in an age, where every resource, every decision, impacts the whole unified globe. Walker’s words were a philosophy, a reminder that our dreams, even the most seemingly impossible, can be realised through adaptability, resilience, and a willingness to navigate the uncomfortable transformative journeys within each of our own isolated capsules of change with minds and hearts open.