The Soul of the Matter: Clouds…

Clouds. They’re magical,  mystical,  dreamed of places in the sky. And if we let them in, if we stop and look up and outside of ourselved and beyond our earthbound needs and demands, they can change our reality.

I take pictures of the sky as often as I can, when there’s something new to see, to remind myself to always look up. Whether you’re standing or sitting or lying on the ground, peering into the horizon can make you feel as if you’re standing on the edge of the world, about to fling yourself into something fantastical.

Storms and sun and wind and sparks of water shimmering into mist live there.

Colors and parts of ourselves we don’t even know are missing until we find them there.

Anything is possible.

Each picture I capture with my phone–yes, all of these worlds are the air above me as I lift my eyes and my iPhone and capture what I would have let slip by–is another place I’ve traveled, another reality I’ve dreamed.

At least that’s what I tell myself as I imagine dragons floating above a neighborhood park.

And history spreading out beneath the sky, above mountain ranges dancing like waves, just beyond my reach.

And spirits visiting closer than ever, dusky and agressive, shadows reflecting mysteries across my evening walk.

Or dawning with promise on a clean white morning, after a darkening year that drew me to this place, this time, this memory of clouds that somehow helped me breath and smile and cry a little, because have you ever seen anything so delicate and pure and dripping with promise?

A clouded mind is one of weight and dread and anxiety, some say. But for me, I invited the clouds in to play. They’re my touchstone. They’re in my soul. They remind me to never give in to the feelings that I’m hopelessly stuck. That the world is only where I am in a moment. They are proof that fantasy and dreams surround us every day. Just look up, these pictures remind me. Believe beyond this day’s reality.

Dream of clouds, my friends. Dream of more and tomorrow. Dream of who you become when your gaze rises and ignites your mind with the magic you’ve yet to see, marching on without you until the day you let it open your heart just a bit wider…