Clouds have fascinated me since I was young. I liked finding animals in the cumulus clouds (actually I still do), seeing their shapes, watching them move over the sky, putting faces on them. As I grew older I started to find stillness and peace from looking at the grey skies or watching streaks of white slowly passing by – ever shifting cirrus clouds, always evolving, on their way to becoming the next incarnation of what is an ever changing journey of transformation.
Taking photographs of clouds is something I enjoy a lot – I feel like I am capturing the beauty of impermanence, knowing that the cloud formations I see this moment will never repeat themselves again. In that sense clouds embodies the wabi-sabi concept of Japanese beauty I feel, where among other concepts impermanence and incompletion are held in high esteem. Therein lies the peace – an illustration of a journey towards an unspecified goal without a hope of ever reaching it, just striving to get to the next stage of being before inevitably ceasing to exist.
Since our son grew out of his baby bath, we have been using the big bathtub for him. He loves water, and especially so when we are adding a little bubble bath. He seems fascinated by the bubbles and is so happy to look at them changing as he moves around. When he is dry and in his pajamas and my wife is giving him his evening milk, I add hot water to his bubble bath and enjoy a little bit of quiet time. I find myself lying in the hot water, looking at what is left of the bubbles, witnessing how the water’s surface turns into a sky with clouds. Clouds that are telling me a story.
If I had had the interest, I could have made a passion of fortune telling from the bubbles in the bath instead of writing this blog. Yesterday was an animal day, where I could follow a horse jumping over a hurdle only to shift into a dolphin once clear of the obstacle – I wish I had had my camera there to capture that sequence. Today on the other hand was a day of smirking faces – face after face appeared in front of me in the water. I have become very fond of this newfound pleasure of mine, quietly observing the ever shifting surface of water – a bit of everyday meditation in the very hectic life of being a parent to a young boy is thoroughly needed and I already look forward to the bath tomorrow. What wonders will I be shown then!
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