How clouds can help calm us down

I was riding in the coach with thoughts rattling about in my head in so many directions reminding me of all the different things that I needed to do. I felt flustered and rushed and then I happened to look up to the sky and the clouds and immediately felt soothed.

It was not a dark sky with a thick layer of cloud but one of those skies with cumulus scudding across azure blue. Such a combination was immediately relaxing. It was to do with the soft pliancy of the clouds, I think. They had no harsh or jagged edges that could rasp on the nerves. Instead they seemed to rise above all anxieties, moving gently with the wind. Shot with grey and gold from the sun, they awoke a sense of delight at their sheer beauty.

It occurred to me that we can be so bound to the demands of life with the straight time-lines and schedules that guide us but can be so oppressive. Just looking up at those clouds is an antidote. We can learn from them as they subtly shift in size and shape and seem so adaptable, effortlessly going with the flow…