The other day, on a walk through my favorite park on the shore of the Long Island Sound, I noticed a halo around the sun that looked almost like a faint rainbow.
Thanks to ChatGPT, I learned it was a sun halo, an optical phenomenon that happens when sunlight passes through a thin veil of cirrus clouds that are filled with millions of tiny hexagonal ice crystals. The sun’s light refracts off the crystals at 22 degrees, creating a perfect circle.
I had never seen a sun halo before and was taken in by the sight.
It was a true moment of awe.
The sky continued to draw my attention as I walked through the park, prompting insights that went beyond the optical phenomenon.
Here are 3 things I took from that experience.
(1) Obstacles Provide Depth and Meaning
A day with a clear blue sky often seems like the ideal weather day. A clear day is like a clear path — it makes us feel like everything will be easy.
But I often find, especially when I’m taking photographs, that the clouds are what gives the sky visually interest. Clouds can enhance the beauty of a sunset. They add depth and nuance. They refract the light of the sun into halos, rays, and colors that would otherwise be invisible. In fact, without the clouds, you can’t look toward the sun.
The very thing that seems to block the light is what reveals its hidden beauty.
(2) Opportunities For Awe Abound
Nature is filled with opportunities for awe and wonder, but we often miss what’s right in front of us because we don’t pause to look.
When we’re focused on getting to the next place or maximizing every moment of our day, we don’t make time to stop and look around. We miss what’s right there.
Awe and wonder aren’t hidden; they’re just unattended.
Finding wonder is a practice.
It requires a willingness to detach from the outcome of “getting somewhere” in order to be where you are and take it in.
(3) Your Angle Determines What You See
As I walked away from the shoreline, the edges of the halo grew more faint, and trees blocked part of it. I realized that perhaps I had seen it so clearly because of my vantage point.
The sky reflects what’s on the ground. How we see the sky over water is different from how we see it over land.
By the shoreline, with an open sky over the water, conditions were ideal to see this wonder. Further inland, trees and “ground noise” combine to obscure the view and make the halo appear more faint.
What was obvious when I was standing by the shore was not as easily perceptible when I was further inland.
When you change your angle, you change your perspective. And when you change your perspective and you change what you see and how you see.
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