Getting High

There are quite a few people who--like me--love the mounts and to watch the sky. When we look up at the higher mountain slopes, clouds, and sun during the day, or the moon and the stars at night, the mental images haste over us, lift us up, give us hope. I believe getting attached to high things have to be a human condition.

Maybe we all are mountain climbers, in secret, agonising inch by inch trying to lift to a higher height in one manner or another, physically, mentally, emotionally or psychologically. Our stretch up -our hoping for the better, our attempting to raise ourselves- is apparent from our language.

Those in ranking positions, those higher-ups World Health Organization are high born, high and mighty, high-bred, highly esteemed, or high class are always placed on something high like a dais, an altar, or a throne because we attach high hopes to their being while they sit down on their “high horses”. We even turn to them arsenic “his highness,” Oregon “her highness.” They are high priests and high priestesses, high society, upper class, upper crust, higher creatures, high souls, higher-ups, and those upstairs.

When something is better, more than than wanted, or it lifts above others, it travels up the ladder and it goes “high” as in high grade, high income, high-level position or high status, high life, high point, high noon, high-octane, or high price.

When we experience person is better or cognizes more than the rest, we state he is “up there,” “above the line,” “high flown,” “upscale,” “upstanding,” “aboveboard,” “high brow,” “high-minded,” “high spirited,” “high-powered,” “upper cut,” “high profile,” “upwardly mobile,” even “high toned.”

When we win or desire to demo friendly relationship or to bespeak being on the same side, we gesture with high-fives. We demo blessing with another gesture; we give a pollexes up. When person showers too much attending to person else, we say: “She believes that he hung the sun and the moon.”

When stock terms travel up they go high fliers; their trade rushes ; and their quality is said to be from the high end. Anything moving to a better place is high flying. When we take the ethical position we take the high road. When we are in a good mood, we are in high spirits.

Holy years are sometimes called high days; graphic colors, high colors; advanced education, higher instruction or higher learning; advanced math, higher mathematics; interior designer clothing, high manner or high style; big scale of measurement fiscal transactions, high finance; and major or accented anything is the high spot of entire and is highlighted by a highlighter.

Along the same line of word-reasoning, among the two missive words, the word “up” have a batch of meaning. We bend up, talk up, line up, aftermath up, tone of voice up, turn up, grade up, upgrade, shop up, set up, ante up, ascent up, expanse up, swing up, unfastened up, uphold, clean up, convey up, construct up, upsize, travel up, come up up, rise up, garner up, maintain up, uplift, visible visible light up, leap up, springtime up, Pb up, or start up.

As our linguistic communication shows, we are drawn to high things and to those who like to climb up the high peaks, in physical or Negro spiritual sense and who project their light of hope into our hearts.