IWSG: Insecure Astronauts Need Support, Too

Welcome to this month’s meeting of the Insecure Writers’ Support Group, a blog hop created by Alex J. Cavanaugh and co-hosted this month by Jenni Enzor, Jemima Pett, Jamie of Uniquely Maladjusted but Fun, and Kim Lajevardi.  Are you a writer?  Do you feel insecure?  Well, then this is the support group for you!  Click here to learn more and to see a list of participating blogs.

Hello, friends!

As a writer, who are your heroes?  Who are your idols?  Probably other writers, right?  Most of my heroes are other writers, like Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke; but as I pursue my writing dreams, I also find inspiration from people outside of the writing world.  So today, I want to tell you a little about Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

You may know Cristoforetti as the first Italian woman in space.  You may also know her as the person who cosplayed as a Starfleet officer aboard the International Space Station.  A few years back, I read Cristoforetti’s autobiography, Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut, because I wanted to know more about the daily life of astronauts (important stuff to know if you want to write science fiction).  I did learn the stuff I wanted to learn, but Cristoforetti also wrote about the doubts, fears, and insecurities that sometimes held her back from her own dreams.

It’s been a while since I read Cristoforetti’s book, so I don’t remember all of her credentials or all of the details of her career.  What I do remember is that she speaks five or six different languages, has multiple degrees in science and engineering, and trained as a fighter pilot for the Italian Navy—and then, on top of all that, she went to space.  Twice.

Samantha Cristoforetti is just so gosh darn impressive.  And yet, as she confesses in her book, she still struggles with the same doubts and insecurities that I do—that all of us do.

What’s the lesson here?  I don’t know, but my take away is this: self-doubt is normal.  It’s natural.  It’s just another part of being human.  I feel it, you feel it, E.S.A. astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti feels it.  There’s no shame in doubting yourself.  The real problem—the real thing to avoid—is when self-doubt transforms into self-sabotage.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Here’s an article from Italy Magazine celebrating Cristoforetti’s accomplishments as the first Italian female astronaut.

And here’s an article from Space.com about her love for Star Trek and why she wore a Starfleet uniform aboard the I.S.S.

And if you want to read Cristoforetti’s book, here’s a link to her book on Amazon.