Psychology
How the Weather Influences our Moods
Different reactions to different types of weather patterns from different kinds of people
Thunder storms are frightening to most people. I know of very few who enjoy them. Like my husband. In awe he usually stood staring at the dancing of the lightning flashes and the ferocious rolling clouds while I was trying to hide under the bed. That was when we lived on the Highveld where summer storms were a common occurrence almost every day during the midsummer months.
Usually the weather would build up from clear sunny skies in the morning, snow-white clouds appearing one by one, later in clusters until the sky is well overcast, no longer by white fluff, but black-blue undersides. By now I was beginning to get nervous. Time to gather the cats and dogs and guide them inside.
A howling wind would soon die down, followed by eerie quiet. Giant raindrops plopped onto the soil, the pavement, the windowpanes. Then the storm would break loose in all its fury. Water falling from the sky like a grey curtain. Great possibly of hail too. Lightning lit up the room; deafening thunderclaps following.
You’d wonder if it would ever stop. A mere hour later, however, the chaos would die down, a bright ray of sunshine would appear and you’d open the windows to let the most glorious fragrance of wet soil and wet vegetation into the house.
We no longer live on the Highveld. We no longer experience thunderstorms. My husband misses them, I’m not sure I do. The thunderstorms, I mean. I do miss the aftermath of those storms. The cool, fresh air, the dogs frolicking on the wet grass, and the cats jumping to avoid puddles. The birds singing in the trees as if they have received the greatest gift. Nature itself rejoices.
Highveld winters are freezing cold and mostly dry. Like most people I did not react favourably to the icy winds, thick, heavy clothing and the flu that was part of the season. I was never a winter-person.
Seven years ago we relocated to another province. Winter rainfall. No thunderstorms, no hailstorms. Hard rain occasionally, but mostly, just rain for weeks on end. Grey everywhere. The only color is the stark black silhouettes of naked trees against the dirt colored clouds.
Most people hate the non-ending overcast, wet gusts against their faces as they duck from car to office. The mood is gloomy. Everybody enduring, going about their business.
But there are the exceptions. Like me. I love the rainy season. It makes me feel alive and refreshed. Everyone have his own reason for loving rainy weather. My reason is the past summer.
Dry, hot, exhausting, the summer, in spite of the many normal advantages of the season wares me out. Hay-fever and sinus headaches are among the things I have to endure. I simply do not function well during hot spells. Anything over thirty-two degrees Celsius gets me down. And unlike Highveld summers, there us no relief from thunderstorms or even the odd summer shower to cool the air.
We are simply not made for extreme weather conditions. Too cold for too long is depressing, but at least you can dress warm. You cannot escape a heatwave. Yet, some people love temperatures over forty. I know a woman who chairs regular meetings. While everybody attending are sweating, withered and sleepy, she is at her best.
Other Parts of the World
Statistics show that suicides increase during winter in Scandinavian countries. The long periods of lack of sunshine cause depression that causes hopelessness.
Psychologically some people react to weather patterns in extreme ways. Suicide is one of them. On the other end, productivity and creativity increases in certain communities during cold seasons. While hot weather can cause lethargy, cold weather can stimulate activity, both physically and mentally.
Alaskans are mostly, very productive in winter. And unless there is a snow storm brewing, they enjoy the outdoors during dark, cold midwinter days.
When my son-in-law took my daughter and his family away to the UAE where the summer temperatures can soar into the fifties, we asked him how will they endure. His reply was that they would be close to the ocean. They would go to the beach and cool off in the sea water.
As their first summer approached, we asked him over Skype how they enjoyed swimming in the sea. Hmm, uh, we can’t swim in summer, was his reply. Outside the water it is fifty plus, inside the sea water it is forty plus, the same temperature as bath water. Being lovers of the outdoors , they suffered almost to the point of despair. After seven years they have adapted, but, like me, grew to love winter.
Conclusion
While different seasons and weather patterns have a different effect on different individuals, our reactions depends on personal preferences and attitudes. Belief systems can save a person from despair during winter in the arctic circle. The hope that summer in the desert will pass every year, makes non-native residents endure and survive.
The seasons of the earth and the weather my affect us in ways we do not like, but we always have a choice how we react. We may think we are helpless against the changes of nature, but that is only partially true. We get to decide how to react.
I did not have to crawl under the bed during a thunderstorm. I could have trusted my Father to keep me safe as He always does when I am in the middle of any life crisis.
Magdel Roets
Writer of Christian fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
https://authormasterminds.com/magdel-roets
