Cloudgazing: The Whys, the Hows and the Where?

I'm sure that to most people, cloudgazing is a very strange activity that is associated with their childhood.

At some point we've all laid on the grass and looked up to the sky to see clouds during summer. In those clouds we did not see the condensation of water, truthfully we most likely weren't even aware of the true nature of such fluffy objects.

What we saw in them were our dreams, in one form or another. Strange looking shapes that reminisced us of something materialistic or untouchable, whether it was an object or idea.

Then we go back to the present.

The Magic We Lost

Now, clouds make up the most mundane aspect of our lives. Upon waking up, we look through the windows and wonder "Hmm is it really going to rain again today?" Perhaps we may even be cheerful at the fact that not a single part of the sky is covered by grayish floating bits that could cover the sun at one moment of our days. Most of the time clouds are just a hindrance or second thought to us. Now that we know how they work, they've lost all the magic behind them.

But then, that just means that when we reach adulthood we lose all the magic in our lives, which does not need to be the case. For a lot of ideas, we go back to our childhoods, back when we were naive and living in a perfect world that sheltered us from danger. Because who else would have better ideas? In reality the more you know, the less creative you are as you are just thinking about the practical aspects of ideas. The child does not need to deal with such complex problems. They can think of chocolate airplanes, electronic devices that generate bubbles whenever you are sad to make you happier. That is why they also see lots of different aspects in the nebulas (clouds), they see something we've stopped seeing a long time ago.

Cloudgazing is all about bringing a bit of magic from our childhood to the routinistic adulthood.

The Hows

If the whys convinced you to do some cloudgazing, the hows should not stop you.

You do not need any gear or money for cloudgazing as all you need is just yourself, time and motivation. We all have ourselves, but we may say that, oh, there's not enough time to do this, but we're horribly wrong. Cloudgazing can be done during any time of the day, during breaks, while eating and more. If you start cloudgazing early in the morning, you will get the bonus of catching the sunrise. Vice versa for the evenings with sunsets.

So, there is definitely enough time for some cloudgazing at any time of the day, any day of the week. There are instances when there are clear skies, but worry not as you should celebrate the sun or stars later on in the night. There are rarely ever any downsides to cloudgazing.

As for motivation, there is no skill to master or competition to conquer. It is purely a personal activity that awakens the childhood inside you. Coupling with the fact that it can be combined with any miscellaneous activities, you can begin cloudgazing without ever actively doing it as purely main activity.

The Where

Finally, let us go to where.

Where should we cloudgaze, should we climb up the roof and get the best panoramic view for clouds? Or should we travel somewhere quiet? The answer is that it doesn't really matter. You may as well just look at the clouds from your kitchen window, if there is one. The activity itself is more about what you want to gain out of it, perhaps some quietness, form of meditation or just a type of break from the mundaneness of life. It doesn't even have to be a fulfilling or productive task.

Cloudgazing is more of an aspect of life where we find a little bit of ourselves in it. It's similar to individual quirks people have, whether it's the way someone folds their clothes or rituals one may have before going to sleep. It is all about bringing the childhood magic back to adulthood, all that naive happiness and ideas we had since forgotten as we go about our days.

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Sometimes the best art is just above us, waiting to be appreciated.