A college friend of mine would walk along nature trails or city streets with his head tipped back, discovering. He’d say, “Up is a neglected direction.” He may have looked silly, and tripped now and then, but he discovered things up there, with his altered perspective, that wowed us both, and I became a convert.
The saying “things are looking up” means they’re getting better. Maybe it works the other way, too. Looking up, we invite a change of perspective and encourage discoveries that cheer and delight.
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So simple, yet so powerful and true.
this reminds me of one of my favourite lines from the movie, The Fisher King. AS Jeff Bridges is scaling the side of the building in NYC to burglarize a penthouse, he says, “I’m glad no one in this city looks up.” It’s a location joke, but since then, I always look up in cities – and there is so much beauty to find at the the peaks.
It would be neat if someone did a series of guidebooks about cities that was all about what to see when you look up. A great tip I heard of once, to use when visiting a cathedral with a fabulous ceiling, works well out and about the city, too: use a handheld mirror and look down into it to see what’s up reflected there. It can be a real neck-saver.
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