Two hours after sunset, I was supposed to be running numbers. Instead, I stared out the window, watching Canes Venatici drift beneath the Big Dipper’s tail. The Whirlpool Galaxy—31 million light-years away—looked like a smudge through my cheap scope. I kept thinking about how even galaxies collide for hundreds of millions of years and still end up tangled together, brighter for the struggle. My advisor would call this a distraction. But I needed something that didn’t ask for results, didn’t care about my unread emails or the failed protocols piling up. Tonight, I just wanted to see something survive the chaos. I told myself I’d get back to work after the moon set. I didn’t. #ScienceFatigue #LabBurnout #ImposterInTheRoom #Science