The Sky is Always Blue
The storm will pass
A Furious Sky
There are days when I feel like I’m standing in the eye of the storm.
I remember one evening vividly. A close friend and I had an argument, a misunderstanding that escalated out of control. After the abrupt end of the conversation, I replayed the words endlessly. In hindsight, so many things I’d said felt wrong, and each pause in the conversation seemed heavier than it had been in the moment. My mind swirled with questions: “Did I overreact?” “Will this ruin our friendship?” “How did I mess this up?”
The sky of my mind filled with dark, heavy clouds, churning with turbulent thoughts of anger, doubt, and loneliness. Each thought was like a crack of thunder, sudden and paralyzing. The storm raged on as I lay awake that night, unable to shake the sinking feeling in my chest. Every effort to steady myself felt swallowed by the chaos.
Moments like these make the storm feel relentless, battering against the walls I’ve built around my mind. In those moments, it’s hard to imagine the storm ever ending. I’ve tried silencing the fury with distractions, turning to drugs or alcohol for a fleeting calm, but those only deepen the chaos. The storm demands to be acknowledged. It knows these strategies well and knows how to defeat them.
Avoiding the storm is like trying to escape a shadow: the more I run, the more it looms. I realized the storm wasn’t just external, it lived in my mind, feeding off my avoidance. But storms are not permanent. Beneath the chaos, the sky remains untouched. As ferocious as they may seem, storms cannot destroy the calm blue sky that always returns.
My mind is the blue sky.
Many days, there is no storm—only peace. On these days, I am healthy, surrounded by friends and family, and engaged in work that brings value to myself and others. The sky within is clear and a beautiful shade of blue. It feels expansive and open, as if nothing could weigh me down. This blue sky represents the underlying essence of my mind, present and calm, even when I forget it's there.
But the mind too, has cloudy days. There are times when dark, heavy clouds gather, filling the sky with their turbulence. These clouds are my thoughts—sometimes angry, sometimes filled with doubt or fear. They swirl and darken the horizon, making it seem like the blue sky has disappeared.
The colors and forms of the clouds reflect my feelings and state of mind. A sky dotted with playful, soft clouds can feel comforting. But then there are days when the clouds turn dark and menacing, hanging heavy like a blanket over my thoughts. It's on these days that it's easy to forget about the blue sky altogether, to become so wrapped up in the storm that I can't see beyond it.
Yet, I've learned that even when the sky is completely overcast, the blue sky hasn't gone anywhere. It's merely obscured by the passing storm.
The sky is always blue.
Even on the darkest days, when the clouds are thick and the storm feels endless, there is a calmness above the clouds, a serenity that remains untouched. Just as a plane can climb above the storm and emerge into the clear blue sky above, the mind can find moments of clarity, even amidst chaos. The storms pass, as they always do, revealing the sky that was there all along.
When my mind becomes busy with invasive thoughts, when the dark clouds come rolling in, they can obscure my vision, making it easy to lose sight of the blue sky. Sometimes, I find myself enveloped in these thoughts, convinced that the storm is all there is.
Reminding myself the storm is only temporary has been an important lesson for me. The calm above the storm is unchanging, patiently waiting for the clouds to part.
Calming the Storm
To clear the clouds, I use some techniques that help shift my perspective and dissipate these distortions. Gratitude is my most effective practice. When I reflect on the things I’m grateful for, I create small openings in the storm. Gratitude shifts my focus from what is going wrong to what is still good and steady in my life. It's like glimpsing patches of blue sky through the clouds, reminding me that not everything is as turbulent as it seems.
One evening, during a particularly overwhelming storm of thoughts, I decided to start small: I wrote down one thing I was grateful for. At first, it felt forced, but I kept going: “a warm cup of coffee”, “the beautiful fall trees”, “a supportive friend”. With each addition to the list, the clouds began to lift, little by little. Gratitude didn’t erase the storm, but it gave me a sense of perspective. The more I practiced, the easier it became to catch glimpses of the blue sky.
Exercise is my favorite tool to help clear the storm. Physical activity, even a short walk, has a profound impact on my mental state. Moving my body shifts the clouds within my mind. The rush of endorphins acts like a gust of wind, pushing the storm clouds away and allowing the blue sky to reappear. When I feel trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts, stepping outside and moving, even for a brief period, can break the cycle and provide a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Sleep also plays a crucial role in keeping my mind clear. Poor sleep exacerbates mental distortions, making the storm clouds seem thicker and more oppressive. When I'm sleep-deprived, my mind is prone to negative emotions and cognitive tricks, like a sky darkened by nightfall. Prioritizing sleep allows my mind to reset, to process the day, and to dissipate the emotional storm that might have built up. Good sleep is like the dawn breaking after a long night, revealing a clearer, calmer sky.
Each of these techniques serves as a way to clear the clouds and reconnect with the underlying blue sky of the mind. They don’t eliminate the storms entirely, but they make them manageable. They remind me that, no matter how dark the clouds may seem, the blue sky is always there, waiting to shine through.
Above the Clouds
The storm brings fear, anger, doubt, loneliness, and chaos, but it cannot touch the sky itself. I must face the storm with courage and acceptance.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain”
- Frank Herbert “Dune”
The sky is there, waiting behind the clouds. It is this inner sky, this unchanging calm, that always remains, no matter how fierce the storm may seem.
The sky is always blue.
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