KEYNOTE 4 – UNIT 11

Write an essay of at least 250 words about an organization that

encourages people to slow down.

While more and more personal coaches and social-media influencers,

qualified or not, tout the hustle lifestyle, successful leaders and
entrepreneurs who actually create results in their lives know that slowing
down builds the foundation for their success. That is also one reason why
the Cloud Appreciation Society was founded.

The Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS) is a society founded by Gavin

Pretor-Pinney from the United Kingdom in January 2005. The society aims
to foster understanding and appreciation of clouds, and has over 50,000
members from 120 countries, as of March 2020. Just look up, says Pretor-
Pinney. As he shares charming photos of nature's finest aerial architecture,
Pretor-Pinney calls for us all to take a step off the digital treadmill, lie back
and admire the beauty in the sky above.

They decided from an early stage not to make the CAS a non-profit. They
believe an organization is most sustainable when it works as a business.
They feel that becoming preoccupied with applying for grants and raising
donations would mean they would lose sight of their aim: to bring people
together through a greater understanding and appreciation of the sky. This
organization is really interesting because they are fighting against the
banality of ‘blue-sky thinking’. When joining this society, people have a
chance to get away from their hectic lives, chill for some minutes to admire
the beauty of the sky. The founder also believes that all who consider the
shapes they see in clouds will save money on psychoanalysis bills, which
means they would be less stressful than those who work continuously
without taking a rest.

Every year the organization spends 5% of all membership revenues towards

a cause they believe is worthwhile. In 2019, they helped the Canadian non-
profit FogQuest supply a village in Central America with everything they
needed to harvest fresh drinking water from fog. The villagers get 8000L
(1760 gals) of fresh water a day during the foggy but rain-free winter
months. In 2020, they helped protect the ‘river in the sky’ over the Amazon
rainforests by supporting an Amazon Conservation Association project in
Peru train and equip locals with drones to stop illegal logging of their land.
In 2021, they are planning to help teachers around the world encourage a
greater appreciation and understanding of the sky in their pupils.

In conclusion, today hustling-and-bustling life is driving many people

towards health problems and make them forget about the beauty of nature.
Organizations like the CAS should be encouraged to develop and help
nurture people’s mind and soul.