Foggy Sacramento

The fog has settled over this city for 12 days now. Sacramento has a record for the longest stretch of cold being18 days in the 1980’s. People thought this was from the flood event during February of 1986. It’s dark and cheek piercing cold for us locals with 39-47 degree days. While no steam from the streets rising and the sun remains hidden, we continue to watch the forecast.

I commute from Sacramento up towards the Sierra Nevada foothills, the winding canyon stays dark while black leaves hit my windshield with every turn around each bend. Smoke from neighboring homes pump from chimneys and burn piles while it disguises with the fog.

The weather has started to weigh on people. Perhaps with Christmas approaching and drivers not being used to the slick roads, the chaos unfolds.

Gloomy skies and minds litter this town while insecure delusions wrestle around our state of consciousness.

I could never understand why folks get so down on rainy cold weather. I live for that shit. Do we really let precipitation dictate our state of mind? I have read that our surroundings determine our mood and projection to the outside world. It molds us into being certain personality types that we could have avoided under different habitats.

A blanket hangs over the buildings and trees as if a protective web keeps us from the beams of heat that seem to spark our endorphins. I guess natural serotonin must wait another day.

In 2009 the PEW Research center did a study of people who prefer cold weather and what cities they would prefer to live in and only 26% said Sacramento. It’s safe to say we are not the desired metropolitan location.

Being sad when it rains is called seasonal affective disorder. Neurotransmitters aren’t stimulated because of indoor isolation and lack of vitamin D. But what if we could change that? Like when you have to do something you don’t want to do but feel better after you did it. I think a lot of us say that about going to the gym. What a world of difference when your in the experience rather than the crippling thoughts of starting the act.

Could we force ourselves to be happy when it rains? When the fog and cold seem to consume us, could we see further than the taillights in front of us (metaphorically speaking)? Ask yourself, test yourself, can we break the cultural metaphor that rain symbolizes sadness?

One thing in life I will never regret is being a person who can dance in the dullest of times, spin through all the sorrow, pirouette through pain. Get out there and let your feet make sound louder than the pelting of the rain. Melt the chill out of the air with the heat from your smiling cheeks. While the spray of mist and fog seems to make a good contender on your skin remember why light will always defeat dark.

Life needs rain to grow, without it we would not eat. Just like we need diverse environments to grow. This feeds our mind and spirit. A change of thought is as important as a change in the weather.

Finding your light inside the gloom is defeating it. So when you feel down with the next 7 days of rain upon us, remember you are your own sunshine and dancing in the rain could very well be just what you need.