The Sky

Image by Pat Dalton......... via Flickr

I am ruled by the sky. I'm not sure when it became such a controlling part of my life; I imagine back when I was talking a lot of philosophy and world religion classes.

The sky is the biggest thing we know--if you can even call it a thing. It basically is everything that we are not; above us and the clouds and the planes and satellites. It's beyond the stars. There's nowhere you can be and not take a clear view up and see sky.

The moment you try to imagine the vastness of the sky, you are immediately and acutely aware of the finiteness of you. While its immeasurability removes any hope of escaping it, consider how far you would have to go just to take a point of sky directly above you and send it below the horizon. As a morning sun in Central Park can easily be a sunset in Kowloon, two people so far apart can be sharing the same bit of sky.

Why does this impact me so?

• I am reminded that there are things bigger than me. Things that must squint to look down and see all the places I've been and things I've done. There are things I will never impact, and things that may never be impressed by my efforts.

• I am reminded that I'm oblivious. I barely know everything that's happening in my life, let alone all the lives under the same sky I see. Half the time I don't even notice the sky itself--the biggest thing I know. How could I possibly recognize subtleties when I've overlooked the obvious?

• My mountains become mole hills. Considering the first two, it's hard to find something in my life big enough to make a blip on humanity's radar, let alone all existence. The moment I want to complain I must admit that under this sky someone else has a greater right. It doesn't make me feel better, but it does reduce my moaning and increase my gratitude.

• I am warned of the danger in self. It is looking to self and its issues that allows my worries, wishes and concerns to block out the existence of everything around me--even the sky itself. By looking only at my needs and feelings I disconnect with humanity and magnify my problems and their respective emotions. The wise Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Confucianist or Daoist knows the potential danger in self-led pursuits [link].

So forgive the occasional emo-sounding tweet regarding the sky. I am a guy with self-doubt, uncertainty and personal frustrations, but when I look away from my details and up to the sky I get a reminder of my real objectives: to live, to learn, to share and to appreciate.