Life as a Cloud

As a child, she would look at the sky and wonder what it would be like to be a cloud. To float on the breeze, fluffy and free - to see the whole world from so high above.

Her mom thought she was spending too much time looking up. "You have to focus on reality, Katy," is what she told her little girl. "There's no time in life to get lost in the clouds."

She had a point.

When Katy did look back down to Earth, the bustle and noise and lights would hit her like a brick to the face. It was painful - her ears would ring and her heart would race. She didn't understand the rush. Everybody pushing, shoving, clawing, killing to get to a destination that didn't exist.

"I want to be the CEO."

"I want to become a millionaire."

"I want a big house by the sea."

"I want."

"I want."

"I want."

Katy asked her mom once what it was she wanted and she said, "Some peace and quiet for once." Katy didn't know how serious she was, but she left her alone anyway.

She asked her dad what he wanted and he told her, "A Lamborghini."

"Why?"

"Because it would make me happy."

That made Katy think. Everyone wants to be happy. But every time she asked someone what they wanted, they all said something else. Anything but, "I want to be happy."

They all wanted something they thought would make them happy.

When she was a teenager, Katy decided that looking at the sky made her happy. Thinking of life in the clouds, away from the chaos, made her soul smile. And if everyone wanted happiness anyway, then she might as well just do what made her happy.

So she climbed hills and trees and mountains, just to get closer to the sky. She jumped out of airplanes with the hopes of catching a cloud between her fingers. She found all the tallest places in the world and came level with the clouds, watching the Earth below her spin.

She learned to fly planes. It made her feel as close to being a cloud as she could get, drifting through the air. She flew beautifully, completely at home in the big blue openness of the sky, unafraid of anything.

She became so good that she was asked to teach others how to fly with such confidence and ease.

The first thing she would tell new students was to think of something that made them happy. That was what flying should feel like. Your soul should be light and free.

Katy spent her whole life looking at the clouds - chasing a dream of becoming one. And one day she looked down and realized that her life had been perfect. She'd had a successful career, she'd travelled, she'd climbed and ran and laughed and loved. All because she wanted to be happy.

And she was, every single day of her life, floating amongst the clouds.