As the fall/winter season drags on, I begin to miss something more and more each day: sunshine! I LOVE sunshine! I crave it. I let it pour over me, warming me to the absolute core of my being.
Don’t get me wrong, my melancholy temperament thrills at a dense fog or a gloomy overcast sky. But sunshine is vital to keeping that same melancholy in check instead of allowing it to steam-roll my emotions into a soggy, tearful mess. “Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody” (Mayo Clinic). This is the technical explanation for why I crave sunlight in the winter. “A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might play a role in seasonal affective disorder. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin that may trigger depression” (Mayo Clinic).
The sun is an amazing entity – our own personal star! 93 million miles away and yet it drives our entire existence. Without it, the earth would be a cold, dead rock, devoid of life. It creates our weather (even that marvelous fog). So is that all that the sun is? A large, powerful ball of gas that heats our planet and produces serotonin in our brains to keep us from going bonkers? Or is there something else to be said about sunLIGHT?
Light is “the electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength.” But light is also “one of the brightest parts of a picture” or “something that enlightens or informs.” It is a word of considerable strength and power. It dispels darkness, eliminating it, irradiating all objects within sight. Darkness is where my imagination takes hold of me in elemental and often hideous ways, and light is what chases that away.
In 2012, we lost a brilliant artist too soon. Thomas Kincade was known as “The Painter of Light,” and his work is as fascinating as it is popular. In college, I loved to visit a local gallery of his art. Each painting was illuminated by a light rigged with a dimmer switch. And as you lowered or raised the amount of light allowed to gleam upon the surface, the perspective would change. A brightly lit day became a dim evening scene with the flick of a switch. But the light, even as it morphed, did not disappear. It persisted. A dream of mine is that one day I will be lucky enough to own an original Kincade work as a reminder of the consistency and the glory of the Light.
Don’t get me wrong, my melancholy temperament thrills at a dense fog or a gloomy overcast sky. But sunshine is vital to keeping that same melancholy in check instead of allowing it to steam-roll my emotions into a soggy, tearful mess. “Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody” (Mayo Clinic). This is the technical explanation for why I crave sunlight in the winter. “A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might play a role in seasonal affective disorder. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin that may trigger depression” (Mayo Clinic).
The sun is an amazing entity – our own personal star! 93 million miles away and yet it drives our entire existence. Without it, the earth would be a cold, dead rock, devoid of life. It creates our weather (even that marvelous fog). So is that all that the sun is? A large, powerful ball of gas that heats our planet and produces serotonin in our brains to keep us from going bonkers? Or is there something else to be said about sunLIGHT?
Light is “the electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength.” But light is also “one of the brightest parts of a picture” or “something that enlightens or informs.” It is a word of considerable strength and power. It dispels darkness, eliminating it, irradiating all objects within sight. Darkness is where my imagination takes hold of me in elemental and often hideous ways, and light is what chases that away.
In 2012, we lost a brilliant artist too soon. Thomas Kincade was known as “The Painter of Light,” and his work is as fascinating as it is popular. In college, I loved to visit a local gallery of his art. Each painting was illuminated by a light rigged with a dimmer switch. And as you lowered or raised the amount of light allowed to gleam upon the surface, the perspective would change. A brightly lit day became a dim evening scene with the flick of a switch. But the light, even as it morphed, did not disappear. It persisted. A dream of mine is that one day I will be lucky enough to own an original Kincade work as a reminder of the consistency and the glory of the Light.
Only a few more months!!! We can make it!
ReplyDeleteYes! I love how after December 21st, there is a little more light each evening. It sounds odd, but it's like my body is saying "Yay! One more minute of sunlight!"
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