(An ode to the imaginative power of clouds)
Pareidolia is a situation in which someone sees a pattern or image of something that does not exist, for example a face in a cloud [definition taken from the Cambridge Dictionary]
In other words, pareidolia is the phenomenon whereby we see various shapes – human faces, animals, objects – in clouds (or other messy images that we are not interested in here).
Many times, I’m sure, you have looked at some cloud, saying it resembles in shape a dragon, or maybe a dog, only to be told by the person next to you that it looked more like a slice of watermelon, or perhaps a shark. You made an effort, you tried your best, you tilted your head and squinted your eyes, even swapped positions with the person next to you to get their point of view… but that cloud really looked like a dragon. Or, at best, a dog.
In fact, now that you notice, the mass of steam that the wind moves and transforms looks more like a three-legged table with a roast chicken on it. Meanwhile, your neighbor – undeterred – continues to claim that it is a slice of watermelon. At most, it is a slice of watermelon chasing a dragon, but they say so just to keep you happy.
And so, while on the ground, fields, trees, and hills stand still, in the sky, fantastic shapes and extravagant, ever-changing images chase one another. The Val d’Orcia watches enraptured as the visionary carousel unfolds above it, making it even more beautiful and magical.
The beauty of clouds is precisely this: not only do they make the otherwise monotonous and monochrome blue skies colorful and dynamic, but they awaken the imagination, making us see shapes that they only have in our heads. It is like watching an artist who starts to draw something and suddenly changes the subject before he has completed it. And then the artist changes the subject again, and again, with every gust of wind.
Clouds trigger a succession of imaginative visions that arise in our minds unexpectedly and remind us that we can look at reality through the eyes of imagination, to analyze things using more than just rationality. It is a gift that we used so much when we were children but then often neglected, if we did not have the foresight to cultivate it even as adults.
Seeing beyond and seeing what is not obvious is often the key to achieving seemingly impossible results, using surprising means and strategies. Find your natural armchair here, anywhere between Radicofani and Montalcino, sit back, and enjoy the show.
www.valdorciaskies.com 