When the Weather Man is Wrong

Today is the 3rd of July and it was supposed to be warm and sunny. Well, I just checked and there is no sign of Mr. Sun anywhere. Perhaps a more appropriate title for this post would have been, “When is the Weather Man Ever Right?!”

So, I was pondering my current dark mood and decided to see if there was a chance it could be related to the weather. (Or if it’s just the fact that I’m at work)

When I was growing up, my Nana used to call me ‘Sarah Sunshine’ and the name stuck. If the weather is nice I am usually in a fantastic mood. Friends at school have told me they can see this difference. One even said that I even dress differently depending on my mood. Well, why wouldn’t you wear bright colors on a sunny day?

So, to me this theory makes perfect sense – but how does it pan out in science? I found one article on WebMD that claimed weather has no significant effect on a person’s mood! However, the University of Michigan found that this study did not take into account how much time the participants spend outside.

After performing another study, the University of Michigan found that 30 minutes in the sunshine can improve your mood! They also found that spending time indoors on a nice day actually decreases your mood. That is just one more reason why college professors need to move classes outside in the spring!

Hey, did you know it has been found that, on average, 72 degrees is the optimal mood temperature? And that most people spend 93% of their time indoors (I was blown away by this number at first, but it’s so true.)

So I’m going to sit here and keep peaking out the window for any sign of the sun. May your holiday weekend be happy and sunny!

Wishing for sunshine,