A few years ago, on a trip to London, I met a woman named Clare. She runs a project called Urban Curiosity.
We ordered lattes and deliciously buttery breakfast treats, and I asked her, “What’s this project all about?”
It’s pretty simple. Mainly, she leads people on walking tours throughout the city of London. People wander through different neighborhoods, noticing the architecture, noticing the trees, noticing the sky, the clouds, the pets, the people. The only rule is that you have to put away your
phone. No photos. No videos. No texting. Just walk.
“I want to inspire people to look up, not down,” Clare told me.
I remember feeling a rush of energy in my body, almost like my skin was tingling, when Clare said those words. I remember thinking, “Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
Yesterday, I watched a short film about a man who set up a high-powered telescope on a random sidewalk in Los Angeles and invited strangers to peek inside and look at the moon. It’s incredible how each person — all ages, all kinds of people — react in the same way. “Oh my god. Wow. Just…
oh my god.”
The filmmaker concludes this tiny, 3-minute film by saying:
“We should look up more often.”
Imagine if we looked up into the sky, and into people’s eyes, as often as we look down at our
phones. Imagine the difference it would make. We would all walk around shimmering, awestruck, grateful, just one big collective WOW.
At least once a week, I have one of those weary, frazzled moments when my to-do list feels never-ending… when my inbox feels frighteningly full… when the quarterly reports come in and the book sales aren’t as high as I thought they would be… when I feel very small
and very insignificant. Those are the moments when I feel tempted to dive into a digital device to escape and numb out. Instead, next time, I will try to remind myself:
“Look up.”
-Alex
PPS. If you need more quietness today, I encourage you to clear some space in your inbox, brain, and life. Unsubscribe from several newsletters — including this one, if you want to. Delete. Declutter. Do whatever you need to do. We all need a little more space, but nobody will ever give it to us. As a wise person once told me, "You have to give it to yourself."
PPPS. My friend Danielle took the photo that appears at the top of this
email. We were in Hawaii together a few months ago and she captured so many beautiful moments with her camera, including... the peach-colored sky. Thank you, D.
