“I think clouds are beautiful, don’t you? It’s just that their beauty is missed because they’re so omnipresent, so commonplace that people don’t notice them . . .”
~Gavin Pretor-Pinney
when i was young,
i used to lie on the grass with my artist mom.
we’d stare up at the sky,
and marvel at the shapes we could see in the clouds.
creative. beautiful. free.
connected to nature and each other.
watching the clouds form and float and shift and scatter.
imagination at its finest.
the clouds seemed to sense their important role in sustaining life.
they knew they mattered.
i crave the fluidity of clouds.
moving along, always in the direction of forward.
part of a dynamic and vital cycle.
fluid goals and fluid action.
guarding against rigidity, with flowing movements in mind.
making shifts that are important and necessary and life-altering.
at times trapped under high pressure.
but no room on the agenda for stagnation.
changing shape when the situation calls for it.
opening up and releasing liquid droplets when it all gets to be too much.
i sometimes envy those puffy white clouds in the sky.
constantly finding their way around commonplace.
how do you maintain fluidity in your life?
flow where you naturally need to go?
please know that you matter.
don’t miss your own beauty.
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I love the texture of clouds and have my own collection of sky photos … but never considered the fluidity of clouds before. What an awesome new perspective for me to flow into, April. I also truly love your poetic blog style, and the photos are magnificent. Thank you.
Gorgeous, clever post, April! I love the pictorial companions to your words. I love the vibrant images you paint with those words and the message you convey. I felt it right in the heart! Beautiful, just beautiful! <3
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now ♥¸.•*¨`*•♫♪♫♪
Couldn’t resist! Beautiful photos, April. This piece, especially, moved me this morning: “… changing shape when the situation calls for it.
opening up and releasing liquid droplets when it all gets to be too much.” That could be a metaphor for my life. Thank you. xxoo
My father and I have a gentle argument every summer at the cottage: He likes the sunsets in a clear sky so he can track the precise moment it went down. I prefer the cloudy evenings when the clouds act as the canvas for paintings that almost look too good to be real. The metaphor just hit me, that the clouds in our lives are what allow us to show our true (and most beautiful) colours.
That fluidity also translates to life, in that the “clouds” we experience are as impermanent as the ones in the sky.
Great food for thought, April. Such a simple post and yet it’s bringing up so much. xo
I prefer those fluffy “simpsons” clouds. I notice clouds too April..and love the connection to fluidity. Hmmm, I must jot a few notes about this one. Thank you for the prompt.
Such beautiful pictures! I’ve always loved the beauty of clouds, how they can be in such different textures, look completely different, but are (almost)always up there to be seen. I find taking a moment to really look at them and notice them is very grounding. It brings me into the moment and reminds me that I am a small part of a enormous universe. I think the way they move really mirrors life, sometimes slow to the point where it doesn’t appear to be movement, sometimes passing quickly, sometimes dense, sometimes light, always there.
“You matter”! Simply beautiful!! My mum is a poet and very porly at the moment. This reminds me of the kind of delicate yet powerful insights she has about the seemingly randomest of things. Thank you.
thank you for this touching and lovely comment, farah. i would love to read one of your mom’s poems, and am honored by the comparison. sending loving thoughts to you both. <3