these days I have been working intensively on collecting sky-stories and traditions from several more regions and belief systems, very aware how sketchy and singular any such single collection will be.
stepping out on the balcony I took a moment to allow in the sense of the open late-evening summer sky, the (cirrus?)clouds very light, moving a little faster, while it's getting dark.
after so many days connected and connecting to the laptop or the phone for communications it was good to have a moment with nothing else happening but clouds moving above me and a wide open sky.
(I finally understood why on this planet most of us see the sky as blue, plants as green) (link to the video)
the traditional names for sky in Chinese and Japanese both have notions of "space, void" in the characters, and "tall" and "large" 天 空 (link to the entire word) it felt good to have a moment of relative void, especially after so many languages, drawings, assumption-opinions, cultural formations. cultural patterns form so much of what we perceive, even when we attempt to not perceive anything in particular.
i also learned that there may be a connection between the English word sky and the German word scheu for reticient, withholding, cloaking, eschewing. an interesting relation to the experience of vast void open, space where movement and a sense of freedom, as in flying can happen.
19 June 2025
there is no need to do everything for everyone else, the right kinds of instigation can be enough for more people to notice more easily, pointers, indices, even if these days an endlessly ongoing stream may seem possible (it isn't there are some very finite resources) if this project helps more of us realize, it will be working.
the imperfections and shortcomings can inspire how to do better. (alas there remains the power-imbalance of knowledge & understanding versus might-makes-right)
this working with awareness, may be Elaine Summers' most powerful legacy for us all, the most inclusive and connective, echoing what Dr. Rebecca Loukes has written recently about her Kinetic Awareness practice, the empty space in which something can happen.
if during your 24 hours of skytime you are noticing the sky, looking at a sky-photo or video, a webcam showing the sky, talk about the sky, notice a weather-report slightly differently, ... then it's skytime
"the sky is ours all together
consider the wonders of it all!"
Elaine Summers, 1995
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