As they drift along, when you see a cloud, you say “that’s a cloud,” because you know what a cloud looks like. Though it would take many shapes; a warm rain, harsh hail, frigid snow, electrified and deadly. But it is still a cloud. Will you then say that one cloud is less beautiful than any other? Or that it does not belong or is misshapen? We welcome the rain and fear the storms. But the cloud does not discriminate; it does what clouds do. And so consider a human, you see someone, and say “that is another person.” But you don’t know what storms they may bring, what warm rain or cool shade they may offer, or whether they’re here to harm or to help. They are who they are, and they do what they do. Now look beyond the flesh and vapor, to see deeper, to see what’s behind it all; a beauty, invisible and mysterious. Beyond the hate, beyond the fear.
There is a fear in the unknown, a terrible anxiety.
How is a person like a cloud, or a cloud like a planet, or a planet like a galaxy? These all painted on one canvas for all to see. But this canvas, that which holds it all together, is unseen.
Does it scare you?
Or do you take comfort in it?
The patterns, the shapes, reminders both subtle and bold. Take a moment and have a closer look.
Clouds passing, one-by-one.
It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?
Now don’t be afraid, just breathe deeply and remember to let go.
“Regard yourself as a cloud.” – Alan Watts
