12 Nov, 2019
I’m turning the other cheek (when it comes to the weather)
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Misc. life
While many people in Ottawa were anticipating delays on the LRT or scraping the snow off their cars this morning, I was enjoying my usual commute a little bit more than usual:
I walked to work, admiring the scene, enjoying the fresh air, thinking WOW. This is nice. Aren’t I lucky?
What helped, of course, was that I was dressed appropriately. I had dug my hat and parka out of the back of the closet and donned my new boots and mittens.
The weather is a major topic around water coolers everywhere (even virtual ones, like Twitter). We LOVE to talk about it. And we love to complain about it.
I’ve decided to take a different approach to talking about the weather this year. I’m not going to complain about it. Here’s the thing: I don’t actually hate the winter! I like to ski. I like to walk the dog in the snow. I like to go on hikes. I don’t like being cold, that’s true, but you can dress for winter. Winter is a big part of where we live so I am making a concerted effort to reframe the experience.
Complaining about the weather doesn’t really serve any purpose. Sure, it brings about a small moment of connection between people (“OH my god! Can you believe all this snow? How many more days until it’s gone?”), but it might be more positive, more healthy, and more happiness-inducing to connect over something good instead of something negative. Does negativity breed negativity? Does complaining beget complaining? Does it leave a residue on my brain afterward? I have a feeling it does, so I’m not going to contribute to the conversation any more.
So the next time someone comes at me with a negative weather statement I’m going to find a positive counterpunch.
What I do know is that it would help my mental health if I lived in a society where were we all happily embraced the weather, no matter what the number was on the thermometer. Maybe if other people regularly expressed happiness about the weather it would subtly alter my happiness about it too.
What do you think?
p.s. Feel free to ask me about this strategy in March. ;)
