From Above

The night sky stretched out, seeming to spread across the entire universe. Stars dotted the horizon with hazy clouds blurring their gentle outline. Mountains sprawled out below me with snow covering the tops. The ocean water blended into the side of the land in the darkness and appeared to just be a part of the land. City lights spotted the landscape like little glowing snowflakes and the roads appeared to flow like rivers of light. I wanted to stay in this moment forever, hovering over the beautiful city of Los Angeles.

A sudden shaking shocked me back into reality and I saw the seatbelt light flicker on at the top of the cabin. As I had just woken from a nap, mine was already on so I didn’t worry about it. My eyes drifted back to the window and I wished the world was like this. I considered the view and how you just see the big picture. You see the big picture is the beauty of the city, how people worked together to make a place with gleaming lights and highways the stretch on forever.

The small picture is the people. From up in the sky you can’t see their houses. Whether they're rich or poor, what race they are, what they believe. You only see the lights and the outstretched city. If people are fighting, you can’t tell. The only thing you can see is the serenity and the peace of the city before you. In Los Angeles, there aren’t even skyscrapers to differentiate the rich buildings from the poor. Only short buildings that, on the horizon, all look the same.

As the plane descends, you lose this sense of wonder. Buildings start to become places and house start to appear better than others. You start to be able to discriminate, judge and hurt others with your words and actions. Instead of peace, there is anger and hurt. There's news about wars and fights. People lose the big picture and only focus on their little life, their little problems, but life is more than that. Life is not about you. It’s about the big picture, everyone.

As the plane hits the ground with a sudden jolt, we enter the airport. I see the city for what most people know it as, busy. Most people don’t consider how it looks from the air. That in the air it looks like a perfect, calm world. I think back to the sight from the plane and wonder. How can such a big story come from one simple view?