Growing up as a tomboy I gathered a number of rather nifty and interesting skills, among these skills is the ability to manoeuvre myself out a window and onto the rooftop outside my passage window. And while that seems relatively easy and kind of pointless, please keep in mind I am a measly 4 ft 9’ and peace and quiet are luxuries I am not used to finding. But that aside, there’s something impeccably calming about shimming onto a rooftop and sitting there alone with your thoughts and the clouds for company.

This rooftop (though nothing spectacular: simply some roof tiles and corrugated steel) quickly became a place of solace and solitude. The place I went to when I felt like I was swimming through mud or falling through cosmic chaos. It’s flat shiny surface was the source of peaceful bliss away from the nine other people in my house.

Yes, you heard right. Nine other people. I’m one of four sisters.

I guarantee that until you have a house full of rowdy, chatty and hyper active family members you will never truly appreciate the meaning of “silence is bliss”. Someone always has something to say, add or show. There’s always a mad dash for bathrooms, food, shoes, clothes, books.

You know that scene in Cheaper By The Dozen when they’re all getting ready for school and their mum looks like a superhero reigning over chaos… That scene is my every day. Given, my mum is more structured in her approach (kind of like the dad in Yours, Mine and Ours) chaos breaks loose if one person is even five seconds too long in the bathroom. By the time we all get out the door it’s no surprise that at least three of us are running late and the rest of the people in the house just want to go back to bed and pretend the morning never happened.  But now I’m getting side tracked and the inner workings of living in a big family is a post for another day.

Back to the post at hand, needless to say that when I discovered this tiny slip of sheer silence and tranquil serenity I used it at every opportunity. I spent an entire summer waking up hours too early and curling up on the roof, cell phone and camera in hand, to capture the cascading rainbow effect of an African sunrise over a quiet valley. Another time I hung over the edge snapping the sun sinking behind the city buildings in the distance or waiting till the very last safe moment before a storm broke lose to capture it’s roar in my heart.

It was on this rooftop, with my feet meeting hot metal and my hair bleaching naturally in the hot summer sun, that I learnt to plait my own hair (with the help of many YouTube tutorials) and discovered the beauty of dark green leaves against a deep blue sky. Lying flat on my back staring up as stormy clouds gathered, I learnt the rhythm of my heart beat and the sound of my breathing.

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For More Pictures: Sitting With The Clouds

Yet, while all these moments were inexplicably beautiful, the best moments were the quiet thoughtful moments spent sitting wrapped in clouds and mist as they rolled into our tiny valley and kissed everything with a cool freshness. In these moments, regardless of how bad my depression was or how frazzled my nerves felt or how hectic the week had been, my soul sigh in relief and my mind clears.

These are the moments when the clouds whisper.

Listen carefully.

You’ll hear them whisper a story of an African princess who rules her kingdom and of children dancing in the rain.

Listen carefully.

They whisper of parched soil finally given relief and worn souls being washed clean.

Listen carefully, for the clouds hold the stories that leave us in awe and inspired. From the clouds, I learnt of kingdoms gone and kingdoms that are being built.  In the clouds, you see reality meet fantasy and mystical actuality.

I suppose at the end of the day we all find inspiration in something strange…. While mine is the whispering clouds, yours could be the patter of rain drops, children laughing, the voice of a musician or the strum of a guitar chord.

Whatever it is, indulge yourself in it. Enjoy it. Love it. Share it. Keep it. Carve it into your soul.

I may not have the strength to get out the window but the sound of cloud whisper is embedded in my heart and that gives me the encouragement to push through the hard days and work for more good days. One day I’ll be back on my roof, head thrown back and the sun on my face moments before the clouds whirl in and hug me close to whisper a new story…

Longing to sit with the clouds,

Brokebella.