It is a grey day. Interesting how our moods can be so affected by the weather and the conditions around us. Yesterday was bright and sunny and I felt in a good mood all day. Today it is overcast and I am feeling a bit down. There is no reason for it other than the colour of the sky. I’m in a good, calm place in life at the moment.
Had bootcamp again last night – it was all cardio/vascular – aerobic – workouts. Jogging, sprinting, sideways running (I don’t know what else to call it – its more like skipping sideways). An hour solid with just a few 30 second breaks and one or two 2 minute breaks. Hard work but I find I like that sort of stuff better than the resistance/weight training.
Tomorrow is bushwalking with P and then back to my open fire place afterwards. I have some red wine to quaff in front of the fire – should be nice. I am very much looking forward to spending time with P. Obviously I still haven’t got him out of my system. It is forecast to rain, but neither of us mind being out in the elements – in fact we both enjoy it. Then we have the pleasure of a roaring open fire to look forward to afterwards to warm and dry us.
I bought a new rug to put in front of the fireplace today. It is a deep red shag pile rug. I thought it appropriately named 
A friend and I are booked on a South Pacific cruise that leaves in 5 weeks from tomorrow.
So you see I have no real reasons to feel grey. I have a holiday coming up; I am working hard on my fitness; and my love life is seeing some action. I am starting an online screenwriting course next week too (goodness knows when I’ll find time for it). I am still meditating every day too. I still find my job unchallenging but the people, conditions and environment are great.
As I write this paragraph, a shaft of sunlight has come through the clouds and falls across my keyboard and monitor. Immediately it lifts my mood and I feel the sun is still shining on my life. It is a good sign. Two weeks ago, when I had just done something that made me anxious, I saw the most magnificent rainbow I have ever seen. It seemed an indication that all was well. I remember P telling me that years ago, after his wife walked out on him, he went camping alone in a remote area in winter. All was grey and miserable, and then he said the clouds parted and the sun shone through and he suddenly felt that all would be ok. It is interesting how we humans interpret these things. I do believe there is meaning in all sorts of things that nature presents to us, but we have forgotten the knack of reading them. But we still have some sort of primitive response – especially to the sun.
Sunlight really does effect our mood. I’m in Alaska and suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (appropriately nicknamed SAD). Anyway, it is seasonal depression linked to changes in daylight. Most people have trouble in the fall or winter when days are short and often gray. I have trouble in the spring when the days are getting longer. I just want to sleep all the time and eat carbs. Going for an hour walk outside in late morning (which means 11am during mid-winter) helps a lot but takes discipline at -40F.
I’m very much affected by SAD, so I’m looking forward to retiring to a warmer place (Darwin). The older I get, the more I find winters hard to tolerate – and a few days without any sunshine at all make me feel quite down, even when there’s nothing to feel down about!
Had to laugh about your shag pile rug … and I hope it lives up to its name!
Akhomeschoolfun, hello and welcome to my blog. I am definitely feeling the effects of grey skies at the moment – makes me lethargic, sleepy and quiet. Wow, I can’t even begin to imagine what -40F feels like!! Can you actually survive outside in that cold?
Guybrush, I have no desire to move to a warmer place – just wish there was some more sunshine to go with the cold. It has been bitter here the last few days (by Adelaide standards anyway). And yes, the rug DID live up to its name
-40F can be a dangerous if you’re unprepared. It’s cold and very dry. A fun thing to do is toss a cup of boiling water up in the air. It will all evaporate, never hitting the ground. In college I had to walk 3 miles to a class on Thursdays. I once arrived at class to find only a few others were there. The rest didn’t come because their cars were frozen. It was about -45F. It’s just a matter of wearing enough layers, a good hat, and heavy boots. This is why when it finally warms up to freezing in the spring, many people wear shorts and t-shirts.