Look Up! - You've Got Joy!

Sometimes, joy is as easy as looking up.

There! The miracle! (Pause and feel it!) Of sky and clouds and vastness, the horizon stretched to infinity, the curves and textures of the earth. The rustle and waves of 10,000,000 leaves caressed by the wind.

Now, don’t you feel better?

Looking up is an act of presence. A pause between steps. It’s an act of engagement. And in that, it holds the potential for ecstasy.

We can’t look up all the time. Looking down is an act of survival. We NEED to watch where we’re going. That way, we don’t break our legs in gopher holes or step on cracks or smear our shoes in spilled milkshake.

Keeping our eye out for danger is base level Maslow shit. Fundamental. So we don’t fall in holes and die.

Of course, we fall into holes anyway – all kinds of them. But that’s a sign of our infatuation with our downward gaze.

We get lost in the digital world of phones and internet and computers and desk work. Some of that is really great. Tools for creation and connection and communication and entertainment…

and also disconnection and distraction and avoidance.

We also look down when in despair or depression. When we feel weary. Or lost. Or tired.

When we’re feeling down, we don’t look around either. When we’re caught on the computer, there is only a tunnel to the screen. We see and feel and experience less when we get trapped here.

And there’s an easy answer, an instant shift.

Look up.

Look up from your tunnel vision. From the desperation of trying to solve a problem. From the hamster wheel that is your brain.

Lengthen your spine and lift your head and feel your joy come in just a shift of posture. Look around and take in colors. Open your senses. Cast your gaze to the horizon. Search for the safe path without primroses or scissors. Then, find the excitement of the road to a new adventure.

We look up to gain perspective. To search for possibilities. We look up and we ascend – the moment, the problem, Maslow’s pyramid.

This month, find your hope in the sky and your pleasure in the clouds.

It’s Easy, and surprisingly transformative: Look Up.