Skies and Sadness

One time, when I was very sad, I saw a picture of the sky that someone posted on Instagram and wondered how it was possible for people to be happy and post beautiful pictures of nature when I felt the worst I had ever felt. I wanted to look at the sky and feel like maybe life wasn’t so bad. Maybe it mostly isn’t – but it took a long time to remember all the reasons why. 

Now pictures of the sky remind me of sad people and I remember what it’s like to feel sad and lose things. I take pictures of the sky a lot. Maybe you do too. Sometimes I post them and think of all the sad people who might look at them and maybe feel something or maybe just feel numb. 

The thing about the sky is that it’s always changing. There is never the same sky twice. I wonder if there is ever the same sadness twice but probably not. 

The other thing about the sky is that we all see it but we all experience it differently. Grief is a very personal thing; I don’t think it ever really makes sense to anybody but the person feeling it. And even to them, it’s likely hard to understand. 

I used to feel annoyed that I came to associate the sky with sadness but now I don’t mind because where there is sadness, there is also strength, and tenderness, and the undeniable realness of being human.