Whatever the Weather

 This week's quote is by John Ruskin, the Victorian writer and philosopher, who wrote, "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind is rousing, snow is exhilarating. Where is the bad weather?"

And my first reaction was, "Right, John. That's absolutely fine, so long as you have a cosy home, appropriately warm or cool clothing and footwear, and can choose whether or not to be out in it." Because so many people in the world today - in the UK today - cannot choose. They are either homeless, or cannot afford to heat their homes adequately. For them, bad weather - rain, bitter wind, ice and snow - are disastrous, not "refreshing" or "rousing" or "exhilarating". Which is why I have a monthly standing order to Crisis, the homeless charity.

But I guess if we took his words metaphorically, as though they were about the weather of our lives, I could agree with him. Sunshine can warm our hearts, rain can refresh us, wake us up, wind can blow fresh air into our minds and yes, the beauty of snow can be exhilarating.

But not all the time. Because none of us enjoys wall-to-wall delicious sunshine. All of us have seasons of depressing rain, bitter wind and freezing snow. Times when we cannot see the bright side of life. Times when we wonder whether the sun will ever shine again, for us. It is at those times that the warm sunny friendship of stalwart loved ones, who stand by us in all seasons, not just when we're feeling happy and upbeat, is most valuable. Indispensable, in fact. As is belonging to a loving community, such as a Unitarian congregation.

So his words remind me to be thankful for those loved ones, whether family members or dear friends, who stand by me in all the seasons of my life, who help me to weather the weather, if you see what I mean. 

You know who you are. And I am most grateful.

The Spirit of Place

 French philosopher Jean de la Bruyère wrote, "It seems to me that one depends on place and landscape in terms of mood, passion, taste, feeling and spirit."

I have found that to be true, up to a point. Being in certain places and landscapes brings me instant peace - for example, Salcey Forest. Which is why I go up there so much: if I am feeling agitated or fed up, I know that going for a walk in the forest will soothe me and bring my soul back into balance. I walk there in all seasons and it never fails to lift my spirits. Whether the trees are bare with the spare elegance of Winter, sharing their glorious Autumn foliage, or in their full green power (see below) being in among them brings me peace.

But our moods, passions, feelings and spirits are also affected by other things, mostly by other people. Because each person we meet bring with them their own moods, passions, feelings and spirits, which in turn can affect ours. So being with some people makes me feel happy and secure and uplifted, whereas the company of others brings me down. They seem to move through the world seeing the downside of everything, like Eeyore. I sometimes feel like that myself. Which is when I take myself off into the forest.

Which is why we all need friends like Pooh and Piglet and Tigger to comfort us and cheer us up. Good friends, who will sit alongside us, listen to us with empathy and compassion, never judging us. 

A Few Clouds in the Sky

 Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century Transcendentalist, wrote, "Just as there must be a few clouds in the sky, so the mind needs a few moods."

Blue sky days are lovely and I very much enjoy walking in the forest on such days, like this morning, when the trees are silhouetted against the rich, glorious blue. 

Yet I know that without the rain we've had for the past few days, the forest would not be as green and lush as it is. So yes, the clouds (and the rain) are needed.

So much for the first half of Thoreau's words. I guess by "the mind needs a few moods", he means that we can't be happy all the time. Or if we are, we're probably ignoring something in our own lives, or in the world around us. For example, many folk are nostalgic for the past, which their memory has edited into an ideal golden age, where everything went right. If I think back to my own childhood summers, the sun was always shining and I was playing outside happily with my friends. Yet I know objectively that rain often "stopped play" and we were driven inside. And that my childhood, like most people's, was not a time of undiluted happiness.

It is only when we go deep, and see the clouds, that we can understand ourselves fully. Doing the necessary shadow work can be very painful, but it is necessary, if we are to be whole. I have blogged about this here. Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and it is by learning from the clouds, from the sad or painful things which happen to us, that we grow.

Let us embrace all our moods, which have something to teach us, if we are patient enough to sit and observe them, rather than rushing into action to make ourselves happy again.