Pause, Breathe and Live

On a cloudy Sunday evening when I went for a walk, I clicked this photo. The sun was setting and it created this beautiful rainbow on the rainclouds that matted the sky in the east. The beauty of it made me pause. It is nowhere near how it really looked. 

The creativity of God amazes me every time I look skyward. I am awed by the magnificence of it all.

Science explains that a rainbow is formed when the water droplets in the rainclouds act like a prism and scatters the sunlight. But imagine how many droplets would be part of creating this stunning rainbow. What is the magic behind its beauty? A perfect synchronisation, a dance of love between the flirting beams of sunlight and the coy raindrops. A fairy waving a magic wand to delight a child. Whatever it is, it is a sight to behold.

I spent almost fifteen minutes just watching it. All the while, hundreds of people passed by. I wanted to tell each one of them to pause and watch it. I might have been labelled a lunatic. So I watched out for kids. They wouldn't mind. But none came my way during the entire time the rainbow dazzled in the sky. Maybe they were glued to their electronic gadgets.  

This is the sad truth. We are always rushing to complete our chores. Forgetting to pause. To breathe. To Live. I think we should stop doing that once in a while. Stop and look up. Listen to nature. The creator sends messages in myriad ways. Like this rainbow. 

Rainbows remind us of many things. It tells us that every dark cloud doesn't represent a storm. It might also bring forth something as beautiful as a rainbow. Or that every storm is followed by a rainbow. Or that there is a pot of gold buried at the end of it? Or that life is like a rainbow, it requires both the sun (happiness) and the raincloud (sadness) to make its colours appear.

Stop by the garden to smell the flowers once in a while. Listen to the birdsong. Watch the birds fly across the sky at twilight. Watch the twinkling stars from your terrace. Bathe in the moonlight. Take a dip in a river. Feel the kiss of the evening breeze.

Wishing you many many such tiny joys, dear reader. 

R is for Rainbow

Rainbows fascinated me, when I was a child. Being bright, elusive and ethereal, they made me believe in the heavens above. The thought that every storm had a rainbow following it, made me face the storms with courage. Their presence was a reassurance that there was hope ahead.

While growing up books told me, that rainbows had a strong presence in mythology as well.  

Image Source 

The above painting titled Noah's Thanksoffering (c.1803) by Joseph Anton Koch depicts how after Noah builds an altar to the Lord after being delivered from the Flood, God sends the rainbow as a sign of his covenant.

As the flood had killed all other living beings, the rainbow came to symbolize God's promise that he would never send another flood to destroy all of the earth and that never again would all living things be killed in the waters of a flood.

In Greek mythology, the daughter of first-generation gods Electra and Thaumas, Iris dresses in rainbow colors. As messenger of the gods, she flies on golden wings. The rainbow was a mode of transportation for Iris, who proves to be as elusive and unpredictable (yet unforgettable) as the rainbow itself. Charming!!

Western mythology refers to Bifrost, a rainbow bridge between earth and heaven that is attainable to only the good or virtuous, such as warriors and royalty. Royal!!

In fairy tales, leprechauns buried pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. Enticing!!

Later on science came in and took the magic out of rainbows.

 It told me that a rainbow is just an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by both reflection and refraction of light in water droplets in Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. Boring!!

Whatever.. I prefer to believe that a rainbow is a sign of hope. I prefer to hope that  somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly,and the dreams that I dream of really do come true.

By the way, do you know that we have a rainbow within us?!! Check this post to know more about this.

Leaving you to ponder over this quote...

This post is a part of Blogging from A-Z April Challenge.

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge was first held in 2010. The challenge is that we have to post every day of April, except on the four Sundays. April 1st is a theme with letter A, 2nd with letter B and so on till April 30th which will be Z themed. My theme is #Learning Everyday, I post about new random things every day.