One of the most wonderful things for me living here is the sky. It is so vast – there are not skyscrapers, or rows and rows of buildings, there is just a vast expanse of sky. I find myself driving somewhere and it feels as if I am driving through a painting, from one wonderful landscape painting by Constable, into another by Turner, and then another by Monet

Whenever I have been in difficult places, or felt the need for spiritual replenishment I have always looked to nature: The Down’s in Herne Bay in England, where I would sit with all my heartbreak and look out across the downs and the sea to the infinite sky; and it reminded me that all the weight on my shoulders, that I thought was so important really was not important at all. The world still went on into infinity and I was just a blip on the landscape.

Or the times when I would be so stressed from work and life itself I would go down to the pebbled shores, at winter time, seeking solace in this place that had long been deserted by the holidaymakers and happiness seekers; I would sit on the steps of a battered beach hut with it’s paint peeling and wood reeling from the battering of the sea and I would look out to that grey sea, where there was no defining line between sea and sky and again I would be reminded that all that I thought was important really was not important at all, the earth carried on and whether I liked it or not so would I. That the summer had gone, taking the happiness seekers with it, but the sea and the sky were still there, still beautiful in a different way; that they never gave up, and that they went with the flow of every season, knowing that things would change.

But now, living here, I do not have to drive to find that solace, do not have to look for that peace because it surrounds me every day in it’s infinity; and I know that I am blessed.

The other day Rich and I were at someone’s house and this is what we were surrounded by

So this post is to encourage people to think. How often do you say “I must” or “I have to” or “I Should” Rich says it all the time. There is always work for him to do with his business or work to do on the house, we could work twenty four hours a day, as could most people, and still not get it done. So why do we keep striving and not give ourselves some time to just stop?

We all keep going but do we actually achieve anything more? Do we need to?

I know that when I sat looking out to infinity during those difficult times that helped me more than ‘doing’ anything; it made me realise what was and what is important. As William Henry Davies says in his wonderful poem ‘Leisure’.

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare,

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to seem when woods we pass,

where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

streams full of stars, like skies at night……..’

 

In the the 46th verse of the Tao  ‘Living peacefully’ this is the message

 

‘contentment alone is enough

indeed, the bliss of eternity

can be found in your contentment’

In the explanation by the great late Dr Wayne W. Dyer these things stood out to me

“when you truly understand what it means to live peacefully, satisfaction will begin to replace your desire for more. ‘

‘I truly believe, to use a baseball analogy, that nature always bats last.’

And she does! She can teach us so many things if we just stop…… look, and listen.

 

Even the great William Blake said..

‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.’

As Lin Yutang, a great Chinese writer says

‘If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.’

It is recognised that people who cloud watch, just cloud watch for no other reason than to see their beauty, are often the most relaxed and chilled people on the planet. You see a cloud is a representation of a fleeting moment, because within moments it has changed shape or moved on and you can no longer see it. It is as if someone is trying to remind us by putting them in the sky, to  stop breath and wonder.

As the counsels “that we learn to think in moments, rather than in days, weeks, months, years, decades, or a lifetime. All we ever get is right now – that’s it. So we must avoid the inclination to magnify tiny events or worry about a future that may never arrive. It;s the little things that make all the difference in our world, and keeping life simple replaces chaos.” (Change your thoughts change your life. Dr Wayne W. Dyer)

 

Simple just like clouds

So with Autumn in full flow treasure the blue sky days with the white fluffy clouds, because they will be few and far between in the grey days of winter, I challenge you all to just sit for ten minutes and cloud watch. Then tell us did it really stop you achieving what you wanted to achieve?

As I watch clouds pass me by, or just hanging there in the sky, with no place to go, and no place to be, just enjoying their time, and being free, I say to myself  I live in a painting every day, and I am grateful. Always…

Please if this post inspires you to stop and stare, or read the poems or just think give us your feedback on the blog, so that others can see it. It is easy …

And, as always, please share…

 

Moisy