We live in a world where our eyes are drawn down. A world where you are told to ‘keep your head down’, where screens have a magnetic pull, with our eyes transfixed and glazed over. Our lives are increasingly spent with a downcast look on the situations around us. We may feel downtrodden and down-hearted at what we hear or see. This creates a downward spiral of doubt, fear, anxiety, and loneliness. We become more insular and isolated, worrying that our lives may never be more than the blinkered view we have.
But there is another way.
To look up, gaze above, lift our eyes and reach beyond our ourselves, both physically and metaphorically. With a simple shift of our eye line, we can raise our spirits, lift our bodies and minds, and create a more positive and supportive world. Ultimately, when we change our perspective, we can change our life.
Let me introduce you to Upward, my debut non-fiction book.
I truly believe in the power of looking up and I have written this book from a place of renewed hope in my life and the world around me. Upward is a book offering inspiration, encouragement and practical advice on the importance and power of looking up. It shares my own personal stories, together with interviews of wonderful people, to bring to light the changes that looking up can have on our body, mind, and soul. Through the power of our body and mind, nature, creativity and community, Upward provides a timely collection of thoughts, advice and evidence for us now and in the future.
With the rise in mental health diagnosis, a global pandemic filling us with fear and worry about the future, an increase in screen usage which simultaneously connects and isolates us, combined with a crisis of our climate and natural world, Upward is a book for our time. I have written it from a place of authentic storytelling, with the desire to encourage, lift others up and provide honest guidance to bring about positive change.
It really is a story book that started out as a very simple idea. It began with my journey of breakdown and recovery but has become so much more than that. Its pages are filled with hope, messages from others who have also chosen to look up and see themselves, their circumstances, and others differently. These people are dreamers, change makers, fighters, survivors, with passionate rally cries to us all to change the way we see ourselves and each other. Over the next few weeks, I will introduce you to these uplifting souls and the four main elements of the book: Being, Nature, Creativity and Belonging. Each element teaches us how we can shift our perspectives and find new vistas in life.
So, as we head into a new year, instead of finding a new you, let's find a new outlook, a new perspective and a new hope for ourselves and each other. Here's to looking up!
As always, I would love to know your thoughts on this in the comments below and on my Instagram @iamsarahalexcarter
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