Lately, I’ve been taking daily strolls around my neighbourhood to seek fresh air, escape from inside, and to make myself feel small.

On each of my walks, I tend to stare up and into the sky – especially on those days where it’s clear.

I love looking at the clouds. They’re truly a magnificent entity, all with various shapes, sizes, and perceived textures.

It’s interesting how some clouds look so fluffy, almost cotton-candy like. Some, on the other hand, look far more rigid, and almost aggressive. Some are tiny, and some are massive – take a cumulonimbus cloud for instance.

I look at the clouds up above, painted on the canvas that is the sky.

The tops of the houses lay on the foreground of this painting, and set a baseline to perceive the depth of the large clouds above.

While it’s hard for me to perceive exactly how far away the clouds are, I am able to ascertain that they are indeed extremely far away. The rigid line between the tops of the houses, and the backdrop of the much farther clouds, is a line that helps ground me.

When I look at something so massive and far away, I’m bound to feel small, and miniscule in the confines of our large world. And that’s great.

Recalibrating yourself, and grounding yourself by looking at something like the clouds, or large bodies of water, can remind us how insignificant things are, and can help void some stresses you may be facing.

I always feel better after taking walks.

I think that’s due in part to being able to remind myself of my environment, and just how small I, and as an extension, my problems or worries, truly are.