My Cloudy Thoughts

How I Learned…

The odd resemblance between thoughts and clouds.

Driving to work one day, I was looking out the window, playing that game where you make images out of clouds. I noticed that as soon as I saw one as a "dinosaur with really short legs," it quickly transformed into "a ship clashing with waves in a bad storm."

As I played this game, random thoughts flowed in and out of my mind (as always), but the thoughts about thoughts kept coming back. At one point, I realized: thoughts and clouds are one and the same.

For as long as I can remember, I believed thoughts had labels attached to them—good or bad, right or wrong, smart or stupid. I thought they all carried some big meaning or significance (like, "If I think this, then XYZ must be true").

But what I’ve discovered is that our thoughts are no different than clouds. We don’t have to let every thought dictate our actions, emotions, behaviors; just as we don’t let the clouds on one day dictate our outdoor activities the week following their appearance in the sky.

What if we play the thought game like we play the cloud game?

We often observe clouds—we watch them form, change shape, and dissolve into nothingness—and we don’t think much of it. We might label one as a “dinosaur with really short legs” just for fun. And when we play the cloud game with someone else, and they see a flower where we see a dinosaur, does that make our dinosaur any more right? Do we argue with them for decades that “THE CLOUD WAS A DINOSAUR!!!” (well, maybe some of us do, but that’s for a different day).

Clouds come and go. Sometimes they reappear in a similar shape; sometimes they don’t. They pop up in different parts of the sky, without always signaling a storm or serving a purpose. And when they gather and darken, we might anticipate rain—but do we ever truly believe the sun won’t come back? Eventually, it does. The storm breaks, the clouds dissipate.

Thought Game:

Watch them: Watch your thoughts float in and out of your mind—literally imagine them arriving on a cloud and leaving on a cloud. Notice how they change shape. Watch them dissolve. Just be with them.

Don’t judge them: Observing is different from judging. Avoid labeling your thoughts as good/bad or right/wrong. Judgment clouds (pun intended) your ability to let them flow freely. The more we judge, the more energy we waste, and the harder it is to let thoughts just be what they are: THOUGHTS. Just observe.

Label them only if you can remember that it’s a game: If you want to say “this thought sucks,” go for it— but, a gentle reminder (to myself as well): labeling may influence our patterns. The more we say something sucks, the more our brain accepts that as default (THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENS PHYSICALLY WITH THE CONNECTIONS OUR BRAIN IS MAKING INSIDE). Labeling can help us distance ourselves emotionally from a thought, but only if we know when to stop playing the game.

Everyone sees something different: Thoughts, like clouds, are shaped by perception. I used to think, "How can someone possibly think that makes sense?" But chances are, they’re thinking the same about me. If I step into their shoes, I might see what they see (take their perspective on it). Our thoughts are based on our perception: shaped by our senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, etc.), our experiences, our upbringing, our emotions, our cultural background.

For example, if I think a conversation was awkward, that’s my programming decoding that moment (using MY senses, MY internal computer decoding system, MY experiences, MY upbringing, MY emotions, MY cultural background…okay, you get the point). Someone else in that same moment may have had a totally different interpretation. Just some food for thought (my thought right now is that food is one of my favorite hobbies…okay back to the “Thought Game”).

They come and go: Thoughts are temporary. They show up, linger, shift, and leave—just like clouds. And just like clouds, some may never return in the same form.

There isn’t always a reason: Not every thought has a deep meaning. Not every cloud in the sky signals something. Imagine having to do something about every cloud as it formed, each time it changed shape, when it dissolved? Exhausting. Same goes for thoughts—if we had to make something of everything single thought that enters your mind, changes while it’s there, leaves our mind, etc., could you imagine how exhausting?

The dark and stormy are okay: Dark thoughts are like storm clouds. They can feel heavy and overwhelming, but they don’t define the sky. Eventually, the storm passes. The thoughts shift. The sky clears.

Don’t forget the sun: You can't have sun without the dark. But even in the darkest storms, the sun is still there—ready to peek through and break up the thought storm.

The one difference: You can’t physically change the clouds in the sky (or can you?), and you can’t stop thoughts from entering your mind. But maybe you can shift the quality of your thoughts. Maybe, through practice, you can reduce the number of stormy ones. More on that next time.

Happy day,

P