The magic of a foggy morning

This week I felt a deep appreciation for the fog. It’s the first week of February and we have been immersed in a cloud of fog for much of the morning. We don’t get a lot of it in the city where I live, so when it arrives it feels a rare moment to savour.

When I used to drive to work on my commute I felt anxious driving in foggy conditions, the speed and the way people were driving put me on high alert. The bright headlights created glare and the lack of clarity around how long my journey would take would put me on edge. I weaved through country lanes on a back route to work and so the fog always felt a little uncertain as the roads were narrow and edged with hedges. I'd feel exhausted by the time I got to the office as I tried to navigate and get through the fog as quickly as I could. Parts of me would have loved to have stopped to experience and photograph the drifting clouds over the expansive fields beyond the hedges, but it didn’t feel safe to and I didn’t make the time.

Walking through fog feels like such a different experience, a slower and more immersive moment within nature’s magic. There was an excitement in the air about the fog as I walked to drop of my daughter on the school run. We togged up in hats, gloves and a thick coat as it was really cold. My daughter excitedly ran up to the end of the road to see if we could still see our house from the other end, we looked back at a misty haze starting to engulf our view and the clarity had shifted to a mist with the colours drained and the edges blurred.

During our walk we noticed what was, and what wasn’t visible. We noticed how different things looked with a new frame of vision. We saw new perspectives and ways of seeing. We saw different shapes and patterns we hadn’t noticed before.

We felt a deep excitement for how it felt to be immersed in the cloud, slowly walking through it and being surrounded in the damp fresh air. The water droplets gently glistened on the empty branches of trees in front gardens we wandered past, and water started to drip off the small tiny leaf buds waiting to open.

The light and the cloud shifted every few minutes as we walked, creating unobserved beauty within our urban space. Hiding some things and allowing us to see others that had been hidden from view just a few minutes ago.

Whilst walking back from the school drop off I wondered…What might emerge from the fog? What conditions might be needed today to lift the fog and bring the clarity of the bright clear blue sky?

During the afternoon I appreciated the beauty of clear blue skies, but also reflected on the wonder and awe of being in amongst the fog earlier in the day.

The beautiful metaphors and meaning we can take from the encounter with the fog help describe how it might feel to be coached by someone when you are seeking clarity and support. Coaching can help you to see things differently, from a new perspective, to take your time to look around and notice what you can see and what is feeling a little different. Pausing in the fog rather than racing through it can be a powerful way to gain different perspectives, feel into the moments and take a look around without distraction.

I love thinking about nature-based metaphors and have written many in the years I’ve been connecting with the seasons as part of my work and with coaching clients I’ve worked with.

Can we reframe the fog? Can we create something which has possibility rather than fear attached to it? I think we can. I know it from my own experience and see it when working with coaching clients.

When I’ve previously felt like I’ve been in a foggy place in my life and in my career, the route has felt unclear ahead of me and something has held me back from doing things I would normally do. I slowed down, found the familiar marker points in the fog and held them with embracing a new way of seeing and a different perspective.

Within my work as a coach and personal development mentor I support individuals to navigate the metaphorical fog surrounding goals, intentions and hopes for the year ahead and support my clients to get closer to the clarity of blue skies whilst exploring the possibilities en route.

In my work I want to help you experience the magic of the fog, to help you notice things you may not have noticed before, to feel calm within the fog and see it as a gift rather than something fight against and fast forward through it. I know how good it feels to get to the destination of clear skies however whilst being immersed within the fog you can create new ways of seeing, new ways to explore a different route through, and in many ways feel more resilient with the shifts of clarity which happen, and then to appreciate the calm and grounded feelings on the other side.

Discover more about coaching with me on the Frondescence coaching pages.