Ask a child to draw two pictures—one on a rainy day and a second in the sunshine—and you pretty much know what to expect. In the first one, as blue raindrops appear on the page, the stick man behind the window is frowning. When a yellow sun beams from the corner of the page, the stick man is smiling, with his scrawny arms in the air and colourful flowers at his feet. Even his stick dog is smiling!
That rain is gloom and sunshine happiness is metaphorical rather than scientific, though it rings true because we humans are inherently sympathetic to our environment. But we are not its victims. Barring a mood disorder, our emotions are not casualties of the weather. The rain can be guilty by association, but not causation.
Some people’s emotions are simply more vulnerable to weather changes than others. Someone prone to a low mood on dark, cold days will likely experience a depressive winter when there’s a prolonged string of like-weathered days. Those who are more upbeat and optimistic tend to thrive in good weather.
So, what does all this mean? With a forecast of sunshine for the next couple of weeks for Ireland, people’s moods will be better and the sunshine is uplifting. Well…until they start complaining about the heat! It’s hard to keep everyone happy. At least the children’s pictures will have smiley stick men, too.
Aoife McDonnell
Account Manager