Quiet rainy day after the eclipse

I am at the office and it feels quieter than usual. The last few days have this quiet atmosphere about them. It has been raining for a few days and the temperature cools down to a very comfortable state. The eclipse brought clouds, rain and thunderstorm. I like the idea alot.

It is quiet. I like it so much. This quietness is just amazing. Ah I want it to last. And I want to be productive in this atmosphere. There is this nagging voice inside me kept telling me that I should have been more productive. That I could have made great progress with my inner world during this quiet time. But I am also restless.

Did a quick Google search and turns out it is not uncommon for people to feel content, calm and quiet under an overcast sky. There is scientific explanation as below. “Turning us inwards and invites us to think more deeply and more clearly” is exactly how I feel. I feel a deep sense for contemplation.

Their theory, Alter explains, was that in dampening our mood, bad weather turns us inward and invites us to think more deeply, more clearly. With an eye to mood science, he writes:

Humans are biologically predisposed to avoid sadness, and they respond to sad moods by seeking opportunities for mood repair and vigilantly protecting themselves against whatever might be making them sad. In contrast, happiness sends a signal that everything is fine, the environment doesn’t pose an imminent threat, and there’s no need to think deeply and carefully.

These contrasting mental approaches explain why the shoppers remembered the ten trinkets more accurately on rainy days; the rainy days induced a generally negative mood state, which the shoppers subconsciously tried to overcome by grazing the environment for information that might have replaced their dampened sad moods with happier alternatives. If you think about it, this approach makes sense. Mood states are all-purpose measurement devices that tell us whether something in the environment needs to be fixed. When we’re facing major emotional hurdles — extreme grief, an injury that brings severe pain, blinding anger — our emotional warning light glows red and compels us to act. For most of the time we sail smoothly through calm waters, allowing much of the world — including small trinkets on a store countertop — to pass by unnoticed.

This quote caught my attention and I want to keep it here.