the Black Hole of Liberty

(written on June 26, 2025 on Medium)

“You have a strong memory”

That is, I am repeating what my close friend said about me. Until now, I even still remember some chapters from each grade level during elementary school, from 1st grade to 6th grade.

I’ve been fascinated with science. My highest grade in my elementary school was always nature science. In my 4th grade, I still remember my favorite part of nature science. It was about astronomy.

In my classroom, there were posters of planets stuck on the wall. I still remember the posters of Neptune, Saturn, Halley’s Comet displayed prominently there. Even before my class discussed the chapter about planets, I had already studied it in my book, that’s how interested I was.

Saturn planet has an unique ring encircled it. Halley’s Comet has long glaring tails. And memorizing the solar system that consists of eight planets. But there was an astronomical object that was rarely talked about: the Black Hole, because it isn’t part of the solar system.

What is inside the Black Hole? Some theories say that there is a singularity in the center of it, a point where density and spacetime are infinite. Also an extreme gravity: the gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape once it crosses the event horizon, the boundary around a black hole.

With its glaring lights hemming in the hole, like a hell that is illustrated in every narration of the afterlife. Though I haven’t died yet to see what the real hell looks like.

The infinite wide of sky

I always look upwards in the night, especially after rain. That makes the sky clearer so you can see stars.

When I went to my villages, which were free from light pollutants, I could clearly see the stars spread out like a galaxy.

I often wondered, does heaven look like this?

But now, the dichotomy of afterlife like heaven or hell is an idealism I discard, even with the religion itself.

Liberated, yet lonely

With this infinite wideness of universe as I see the sky, like the infinity of science that continues to develop over time. By learning new things and reading other knowledge, I felt liberated.

But wondering about The Black Hole in the universe, it is impossible to see from the earth. Maybe psychologically, the liberated-yet-lonely feeling was like this: free, flying in space, but somehow hellish, you’re pulled into heavy gravitation of the void of the black hole. You’re free, but lonely. Liberation promises keep spinning in your head. As if it’s bouncing back and forth, asking to yourself “Is this what I want?”

That hell isn’t visible.

I‘ve never known what hell looks like. In my deepest imagination, maybe it looks like The Black Hole; void, great gravitation, you’ll never be able to run away because even light can’t escape, your body will be disorganized because of tidal force.

A singularity of every bad thing. We, as humans, even wished that our Earth would never end up approaching The Black Hole.

What is liberty, as if we fly in space, thinking we can soar up more far with erudition we’ve learnt, probably end up approaching The Black Hole – entering the hell, a singularity of every bad thing, like sadness, solitariness, and vacuity?