If you have ever been on an airplane then you know the gut wrenching feeling when the plane starts accelerating down the runway and somehow manages to get into the air to fly, thanks to technology and smart people of course. How others react while this is happening has always interested me. Some people chew gum, stare out the window, close their eyes, or are sleeping already. If you are not the person sleeping already and are a window starer like me, then you know how cool the feeling of being thousands of feet in the air can be. The thing that fascinates me the most while starring out the window are the clouds.
Being up in the sky, with the sometimes rocking and shaking of the plane, dodging and ramming through clouds always seems strange me. People look up at the clouds in the sky from the ground pretty often but nobody really thinks about how different it would be to actually be living with the clouds. These white, fluffy, cotton candy looking pieces of evaporation could mean and relate so much to humans than most of us think.
To start, all clouds are unique. I have never seen two clouds exactly alike. Some are small, medium, or big. Some have shapes and others just look like blobs. Some are more of a taint white rather than a vibrant white. Although clouds may have many differences, they are similar in that they continue to move and change.
People, just like clouds, are unique and continue to change.
The type of perception a person has towards people or objects determine many things about themselves and others. Perception is when someone perceives and interprets. One may look at a cloud, from the ground, and by using his imagination see a dinosaur. Another may look at the same cloud, from the ground, and by using her imagination see a crown. I may also look at the same cloud, from the sky in an airplane, and by using my imagination see a lizard. Each of us see the same cloud but think differently of what it could look like. Why might we do this? Well, each of us are seeing the cloud from different points of view and our imaginations do not work the same way. Each is unique.
We see this form of perception by people everyday, but instead of perceiving images in the clouds, we perceive other people a certain way. As I said before, no cloud is exactly the same as no person is exactly the same. People, just like clouds, come in different shapes, colors, and sizes. One may look at a person and only see what one imagines and perceives. For example, a man may be wearing raggedy clothes and not have proper hygiene. One may look at this man and see a homeless person. Another may look at this man and see a poor family life. I would look at this man and see someone in need of a shower. Even though the man may look a certain way because of how people perceived him, nobody knows his true form and may need to look at him from different point of views.
Changing and moving on with life is a part of living. As I stare at the clouds as the airplane flies by it is hard to see them moving, but slowly, I know they are. Throughout peoples lives, they grow and change, just like clouds. Some people connect with others and others do not. Some people change a lot and others only change a little. It is hard to know exactly if the change is good or not but it takes time. Slowly moving through life, just like a cloud, people should notice the changes.
When I finally land at my destination and my ears have popped, I try to remember the clouds. If you only took one thing away from this article let it be that people who look homeless need a shower. Just Kidding. Please let it be not to judge others based on a perception and remember to change. Maybe one day others will look up to you, just as we can look up at the clouds.
