"ALWAYS BEGIN A PICTURE WITH THE SKY" - ALFRED SISLEY

“Always begin a picture with the sky” – Alfred Sisley, impressionist painter

Every morning first thing, I go outside.  And I look up at the sky. No matter what awfulness is being reported in the world, whatever challenges in my life, I look up and am grateful to see the sky.

Usually it’s just before sunrise. There are almost no sounds of “civilization” - just a few nearby birds chirping. And the sky is different everyday. It doesn’t call attention to itself, not self-conscious, but full of beauty, the different blues and whites, the shapes of clouds, the wind accompanying the sky, like its voice against a vast orchestra. It is like an ocean, but even more expansive, encircling the globe, encircling our whole life, history, all of earthly time. It matters little to the sky what is going on beneath it, the earliest peoples saw it, the crests and falls of civilizations, the Renaissance, wars, plagues, the intoxicated uprisings, and of course, all the animals and plants and shapes of land and ocean.

If the sky had its own eyes, they would be like the eyes of God – seeing everything taking place everywhere on the surface from the beginning of earth 4.5 billion years ago.

And, just like we are mostly water, so is the sky mostly water, and so are we and all life on earth. We are continuous with all of creation. So when we look up at the sky, we are really seeing ourselves.

What happens when you see your very bones as sky? Your flesh, your thoughts and feelings, muscles and organs?

In the beginning, middle and end, there’s only sky.

- David

p.s. here’s a link to 50+ inspiring quotes about the sky

ALFRED SISLEY - LANDSCAPE ON THE BANKS OF THE SEINE