Nature Observation

It has been raining consistently for the past few days here in Texas. Throughout this week, I have noticed how much the weather (i.e. nature) can affect your mood.

The rain was persistent, wet and continuous, and increasingly cold and heavy with every drop.

this picture was not taken by me

The weather was cold and dreary and made it difficult to want to do anything productive. Things such as even making the short walk to the gym was inhibited by the rain. And going to class? Forget it, that was the very last thing that I wanted to do.

But of course, I made the trek to class and felt saddened by every step. All I wanted to do was to stay bundled up in my bed and read a book or watch a movie with a very hot cup of tea...this sounded like the ideal day.

Why is this, I thought, that our emotions are so connected with nature? It is true that on a warm and sunny day, people seem to be alive, up and running about, living their best lives; people seem to be in a substantially better mood than when the weather is gray.

There seems to be nothing worse than when you have planned to have a beautiful, relaxing day at the beach and unexpected thunderstorms come and take over the day. Nature affects our days more than maybe we realize.

It seems obvious then, upon this reflection, how interconnected I am with nature and nature is with us, even despite the lack of actual interaction with it. (i.e. hiking or playing in the clay like I did when I was 8). Wouldn't you assume, then, that if much of our mood is affected by the weather and nature, that we would be more encouraged to want to do everything we could to benefit?

I would hope so, but this reflection took time and effort. It is unclear if many are willing to see nature in this way...a concerning thought.