Exploring the Close Connection Between the Weather And Our Mood

“Here comes the Sun… and it’s alright”, goes the iconic, easy-breezy happy song by the music legends, The Beatles. A song that has lived the test of time and temperature.  In the song, the British rock band sensation expresses their feelings about having spent a long and lonely winter. As the sun comes, everything is just alright. It touches not upon just the literal weather but digs deeper into something more personal, as I intend to in this article.

The weather is a common theme across all creative expressions and emotions.

How can we forget, closer home, the iconic ’90s Bollywood sensation Raveena Tandon, in the quintessential lemon yellow saree raising the temperature to the iconic song,  “Tip, tip barsa paani, paani ne  lagayi” from the 1994 movie Mohra

The weather is a common thematic trope in cinema and other forms of expression

“Mausam, Mausam, lovely Mausam”, from the 1980 movie Thodisi Bewafai, is not just a song it’s an emotion. The weather can drive all kinds of emotions and sometimes it can create emotional havoc too.

A case in point is that fateful evening of sultry weather captured in the 1969 Shakti Samnatha directorial, Aradhana. Emotions ran high between the lead pair Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna with their onscreen chemistry as they were seen raising the temperature. With the rains setting the perfect mood for the ultimate romantic night. The lyrics “Raat nasheeli… sharaabi mausam behkaaye”, aptly suggest how the intoxicating weather can lead one astray.

An obvious close connection: Our mood and the Weather

What do these heartfelt emotions point out too? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that our mood and the weather have a close connection.

A great weather day, can lead to the feeling of spending a great date or a long drive with your partner. Or the famous chai, pakoda, Kishore songs and the rain kind-of-evening.

Science agrees: Are you SAD?

Many Russians are known to go into depression as during the dark, gloomy winters there are days they don’t get to see the sun at all.In fact, it can lead to, what mental health professionals, have termed as SAD or seasonal affective disorder. As the name suggests it is a change in our mood and mental and emotional state based on the change in season.

Too much sun, can also be cause for the Moody Blues

In the last few days, Delhites have seen some crazy weather with the mercury doing crazy backflips back and forth.The mercury has also been rising many notches above the normal expected temperature for this time of the year. It surely gets hot around this time but even for North India this has been a new high. While, the sun signifies positivity and mood upliftment, too much sweltering heat and humidity can make some people get the summer blues.

Knowing our Personal Weather and Keeping it Positive

The ’90s band Crowded House sang the lovely soft rock song with the beautiful lyrics, “Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you”. Wow! What a feeling, but it doesn’t translate into carrying a portable air conditioner that controls and conditions the weather around you.

In Fact, it is much deeper and profound yet really simple, it is about our personal weather. Whatever be the mood or environment around us , it is upto us to keep it calm and cool. We can either help change the mood or conditions around us or if not  at the least we can maintain our emotions and keep them healthy in any environment or situation.

Our Personal Happiness Formula

As far as I am concerned I must see the shiny, yellow, bright sun to feel alive. I think that’s why the sun is always used in literature as well as a symbol of positivity, life and all things bright.

At the same time too much of even a good thing can do you harm. It’s like saying you want to keep yourself hydrated, but overdoing it by drinking gallons of water can cause its own troubles. Or in your quest of getting a good night’s sleep you start  oversleeping. So everything in good measure is the way to go.

Climate Consciousness : Personal and for the Planet

This is not a scientific write up but something for you to think about  and ponder over. In wanting to keep ourselves cool we reach out for the air conditioner which leads to the planet getting warmer and leading to a vicious circle. This is true for our mental state as well, when applied to our personal life.

Each time the sun bothers us, maybe we should take a life affirming action and plant a tree or buy one more earthenware for the kitchen. This is true for our personal and emotional life state too. Afterall we have got to live our life to our own song and whatever be our tune or weather, the lyrics should be about beautiful sunshines and lovely rainfalls.

Everywhere you go, Take your Weather With You

Let’s do our bit to uplift our moods and our planet. Everywhere we go, let’s always take our concern for ourselves and our weather with us.So, making oneself a priority and taking more life affirming actions that favour our mental, emotional and physical well being should be a daily part of our life.Thus, creating an environment of sun shiny smiles all through the year for ourselves and those around us.

Do tell us in the comments what are your thoughts about creating better weather conditions wherever we go both literally and personally.

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