Sometimes you need to go up above to realise how minute you are in the grand scheme of things. And a long flight journey is the best place and time to contemplate your place in the world with a view that complements the thoughts. I looked through the window on my flight to San Francisco, and what I saw sprawled below amazed me to silence. There lay the city—or what led to the city—of San Francisco. It was just winding sand paths and shore-kissing seabeds, but the lower we flew, the bigger it got. It’s incredible to think how putting distance between two things puts so much perspective in place. We often think great of ourselves, but from afar we’re nothing more than a speck of futility.