Why Are You Afraid of Heights?

"You are able to see everything for miles, almost as if you are looking at the ciy through a map. It’s your map. People are tiny and buildings are tall. Each person is on their way somewhere.."

I ponder at the thought of how one can be afraid of heights. You’re up in the sky, maybe even leveled with the clouds. You are able to see everything for miles, almost as if you are looking at the city through a map. It’s your map. People are tiny and buildings are tall. Each person is on their way somewhere with something on their mind. Each with a life. The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa with 163 floors. Imagine the view. The World Trade Centers had 110 floors. Imagine seeing the entire city from your window every day. Watching the sun set as the city lights rise and the night comes alive. 

It’s almost as if that while you are up there, say 100 stories up, you’re watching the world. People are rushing, cars are speeding, people are biking, tourists are taking pictures, ect. Life is going on below your feet and you’re just up there watching it all happen. (I guess like God, if you’re religious.) It’s something almost indescribable; beautiful, iridescent, and almost breathtaking. You are a simple bystander and as the world turns, you stay still. When you are in an airplane, sitting by the small window, and there is a good 20 minutes until you land and you can see the scape of the city in your view. The entire city, right before your eyes. Maybe it’s nighttime and you see the cars driving with their headlights down the highway. There’s night lamps illuminating the streets and the buildings create a skyline that becomes etched into your mind. For those few moments, as you overlook a city so vast, and you are looking at all the people living, you are not alone. 

There are people in the bright buildings. Maybe they are frustrated over work, maybe they are dancing in their bedrooms, maybe someone is having their first kiss, or losing their virginity. Someone is crying into their pillow, and someone is laughing at a movie. Whatever it is, people are feeling things and experiencing things. The feeling of loneliness is removed from your body and instead that void it left is now filled with curiosity and love, for a city you’re bound to touch and people you’re bound to meet. 

You must admit, even if you are afraid of heights, that there is such an immense amount of beauty in being so high up. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it is not heights you are afraid of. You’re afraid of the fall.