That weather complexity
I have a major weather complex. I‘m not talking about climate anxiety right now, but I do feel that too, but an actual thing I think a part of my generation of Icelanders grew up with. During the summer months, I was constantly reminded to go outside and play if the weather was good enough. If it was sunny, it felt like a crime to be indoors. I was even allowed to skip cleaning my room, to wait until a better suited “indoor” day would arrive.
There’s nothing wrong with encouraging people to enjoy the outdoors and good weather when it’s there. Specially in Iceland, where it has often been haphazard whether there are sunny, warm, days during summer.
I love being outdoors too, the smell of fresh grass in Iceland is (maybe only in my mind) different from grass elsewhere. So, I do not mean this as a complaint in a sense, that I was actively encouraged to go out and play. I’m lucky I could stay out until late at night, playing in my neighbourhood, under bright, northern skies.
Who doesn’t want to go out and play there? What am I complaining about anyway….
However, now I’m living in Paris and today is the first completely cloudy day I’ve seen in a while. This has made me think of all the moments here, where I’ve had days off, or been completely exhausted, or just not in the mood for anything except staying inside, but a small voice in my head has told me “Miriam, it’s sunny, you MUST go outside”.
I even noticed this feeling when I lived in Cairo for 3 months. At least in Paris, it is occasionally cloudy, allowing you to binge watch TV and chill inside without the bad-weather related-conscious. But in Cairo, the weather forecast often looks like this:
Mostly sunny. Always.
And I would still have days (and besides, I was on holiday, with no obligations), where my mind would taunt me “you must go out and enjoy the good weather, what if it rains tomorrow”. No we are near the biggest desert in the world, it wont rain tomorrow, can I please stay inside and do nothing?
No, doing nothing is not an option.
Yes it is. Maybe it sounds crazy to anyone reading this, but I’m still suffering from this Icelandic weather complex. Symptoms often include thoughts such as:
1) If I go on holiday and the weather is not sunny and great, my holiday is a failure.
2) If I don’t go and spend the day outside when it’s sunny, the day is wasted
3) If I’m abroad and the weather in Iceland is better than where I am, I am missing out (desperately)
4) If I plan an outdoor event, I will have high fear of weather affecting it
5) If I plan an outdoor event, I will obsessively check the forecast during the upcoming days
5b) Can you trust the weather forecast: No.
I’m actively trying to combat this mindset. Find a balance. Of course, I love going out in good weather. But I also have the right to just chill if I want to. Take a nap when it’s sunny outside (but I could be tanning!).
Maybe this is only true for Icelandic people, only for myself? or possibly any other country with unstable weather, but it’s a genuine thing I’ve wondered about on various occasions.