My coach Jane has kindly introduced me to the wonderful “Cloud Appreciation Society” which puts an image and thought of the day into my inbox.
“And art thou nothing? Such thou art, as when
The woodman winding westward up the glen,
…Sees full before him, gliding without tread,
An image with a glory round its head;
The enamoured rustic worships its fair hues,
Nor knows he makes the shadow he pursues!”From the poem ‘Constancy to an Ideal Object’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
I am fascinated with the little pearl of wisdom in this one: “Nor knows he makes the shadow he pursues!”. I see it as a metaphor of our frequent confusion. Are we really the victims of a hostile environment, aggressive colleagues, demanding spouses, attention seeking children and friends ? Or simply creating our own little conspiracy theory?
When we seek goals of social recognition, fame and admiration, a brush with celebrity (think about the buzz some experience when bumping into Brad Pitt at Starbucks!), we are really pursuing a shadow of our own making, unsustainably fuelling our bottomless tank of external self-esteem validation. Such is the cost of social media and the pursuit of social approval.
Contrast this shadowy pursuit with the adventure of letting go of all earthly connections for a while: with our heads in the clouds we choose to spend time experiencing otherness, outwards and upwards – connecting with a far away outer world, ever changing but always there for us.
Far from the clinical depression diagnosed from thought rumination or running around in circles, this trip is natural, induced by no artificial substance and connects us with parts of our being that is naturally resourceful, creative and whole.
It looks like this: what do you see?
It’s a bear climbing out of his bed of Cumulus, of course.
Happy daydreaming!
