Above the clouds...

It looks like the skies are going to be overcast tonight so not much chance of seeing any shooting stars. Yet again I’ll miss the Perseids meteor shower at its peak and this year the normal 50 to 75 meteors per hour is set to double according to NASA.

Of course they will still be there shooting away high above the clouds, the Earth will still cross the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle; it’s just that I won’t see it.

There is so much going on that I don’t see. I know that there are bats flying around at night, but I don’t see them. The sea teems with fish which I never even glimpse from the shore. There are creatures in the ground wiggling and burrowing away that are outside of my vision. In fact most of what is going on in this world escapes my attention although it is happening every minute of the day all around me.

I consider myself to be a fairly observant person; maybe I don’t observe the right things – if you were to walk past me I might not recognise you – but I see more than most. Most of what I see I’m interested in and those things that don’t interest me are sometimes invisible to me. I guess we are all the same more or less; noticing things of our particular interests and ignoring or simply not seeing the things that bore us. Take football as an example. I don’t see it even when I’m watching it, but stand me in front of a painting and I’ll see every colour and brush stroke, notice where the artist got a little lazy and fudged, sometimes I can even see what the artist was feeling as he or she painted.

We all live in different worlds, all of the time based upon what interests us and what and where we are at the time. If you are with the right person they may be able to give you a glimpse of what they see; I’ve certainly known a few people over the years who are very good at this. Teachers, writers, painters, musicians, these are the people who do it particularly well for me; but I’m sure that footballers, accountants, scientists have the same effect on others.

We are all looking for those shooting stars in our daily lives. The things that excite us, grab our attention and get our hearts beating a little faster and our minds ticking over more quickly. We keep looking even if they are behind the clouds. The clouds have to clear some time.

Oh well, I expect I’ll still sit out for a while tonight hoping that I catch a falling star.