So I walked out of my apartment this morning to head to work for a few hours, and it was hot outside. I was wearing a winter jacket and I had my knit hat in hand in preparation for what I thought would be a chilly stroll to the Metro. It is February, after all. I had even considered throwing on a sweater. Good thing I didn’t, because it was HOT. When I finally got to work, I looked up the temperature. The high in D.C. today is 74 degrees.
I ate lunch outside for the first time since at least October. I pushed up my sleeves, put on my sunglasses, and walked around in the sunlight. People were happy. Birds were chirping. Ladies were looking good. I felt like exercising for the first time since Thanksgiving.
Beautiful. Thanks, global warming.
I went back to the weather report, hoping that the trend was going to continue. Hmmm… Tuesday, high of 46? Wednesday, 45?? Thursday, 33?! Talk about a buzzkill.
It’s interesting how much the weather can influence behavior and emotions. Our bodies and minds seem synced to the seasons. Is it the temperature? The light? The attitude of the people around us? The fact that something is changing after months of the same-old same-old? Some evolutionary cause-and-effect that we’ve developed over thousands of years?
What do you think… or does anyone actually know? I’m sure there have been studies done. Bruce, I’m looking at you.
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Yago Veith.
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Well, the citizens of the Scandinavian countries regularly report some of the world’s highest levels of happiness, so I don’t think grim weather dooms or even significantly predisposes people to melancholy. I suspect our aversion to cold, nasty weather stems from considerations both practical (we can do more when the weather is nice) and aesthetic (more pretty days means more pretty girls).
I often tell people that I’m weather’s bitch–if it’s nice outside, it colors my entire world view. Which makes me wonder how I survived 18 years of Pittsburgh winters…
Lots of Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck?
The Scandinavians report some of the highest levels of happiness in the world. That suggests to me that either grim weather doesn’t significantly predispose people to melancholy or that the Scandinavians have a lot to smile about (social democracy, green environmental policies, and a strong sense of community, for instance). Either way, Scandinavia is awesome.
Ah, you’re right–I totally overlooked TV! I may be weather’s bitch, but I’m far more TV’s bitch. :D
@Ashish: Hmm, yeah, interesting. Maybe it’s a case-by-case thing… certainly not everyone in DC was happy on Monday because the sun decided to come out. But as for me, I was at work on a holiday and generally not in high spirits, but a little warmth and light lifted me up.
Maybe if the Scandanavians lived closer to the equator AND had all the cool stuff they had, they’d be even happier?