Fog is one of my favorite weather conditions. Plenty of great mysteries start with a strange lasting fog. There was even a movie about it. Many people (myself included) find it difficult to stay in the moment. Fortunately, our good friend fog can come to our rescue.
Bounding Our Senses
When a fog sets it; it limits our sense of vision. We can usually see our surroundings just fine and when a thick fog sets in, we may be able to see far less. We may hear things out in the fog or catch a damp smell or maybe even feel a slight reduction in temperature when a fog sets in.
The fog limits and alters our senses in almost every way. We simply cannot see beyond the fog with our own eyes. We might hear things and we cannot figure out where they came from. There’s a sharp reduction in our ability to sense our surroundings.
Resists Attempts to Change it
You may try to switch on your brights while you navigate through the fog. Does this make it better? Not in my experience. When I’ve tried that; it just gets cloudier and it bounces the extra light all around my already clouded (literally) field of vision. It won’t matter if I listen more carefully or try to ‘know’ that the temperature is probably more than it is due to the extra dampness on my skin. Whatever I do tends to not change my perception of things beyond the fog.
What Does This Teach Us?
It is an excellent reminder for you and I that we only know what we know. We can assume what is beyond the fog due to previous experience, but this could prove dangerous. If we assume the shoulder is clear (because it is every other day) and another car is there pulled over to wait out the fog, then we could be in for a dangerous surprise.
Fog reminds us that we must focus on exactly what we have in the here and now. How do we figure that out? Well, check out this previous post. Fog gives us a sensory barrier that helps me remember that:
I cannot change the past, it is behind me.
I cannot truly know the future, only use my previous experiences and knowledge to cast a probability of what might happen next.
If I don’t use my senses right now, then I can never really know (much less participate) in the moment.
So, next time you are visited by fog, you could curse your longer commute or an unexpected morning delay. You could also give appreciation for that moment and the reminder that we can only know what we know in this very moment which will never be repeated again.
In mindfulness (and a wish for you to drive carefully!),
Chris