Look Up

NOVEMBER 17TH, 2019

Have you ever noticed that things are much simpler, much more refined when you look up? And I don't mean to sound like your grandma and tell you to look up from your phone, but rather look straight up into the sky. In an evergreen forest, the branches and leaves weave and blend to create beautiful mosaics of light and shadow. A busy street downtown will be reduced to just 2 buildings jutting upwards with clear blue sky beyond. Santa Monica Blvd becomes a simple row of palm trees. I think the view looking up is so effortlessly clean because we humans put little thought into their designs. We don't design overhead spaces of highways or campgrounds, so they rarely become overly ornate or synthesized. We aren't overthinking and obsessing about every square inch of aerial real estate, so they are left to be themselves. Whenever the world feels too complicated and overwhelming, I remind myself to look up and see things for what they truly are; simple. It's funny how looking skyward can help bring you back down to earth. So the next time you feel lost and alone, when you feel like the complexity of the world and your problems are too much to handle, try looking up. And tell me what you see.