Given a modicum of physical security, storms may well make many people feel better because they are do-or-die moments ( or feel like them).<p>That report you have to file with your boss next week? The fight with your partner? The stupid irritating thing your kid won’t stop doing? Completely and totally irrelevant, now.<p>You have no ambiguities about what the goal is, and you know that you don’t need to justify this to anyone: it’s a storm, you have to get through it.<p>That’s actually a weird kind of freedom: where most choices have been removed from you by powers well outside anyone’s control, which bear you no personal malice, you just have to roll with it, and nobody can fault you for that, and sometimes that feels great.
Calming sounds of storms are great to relax to, reading a book or having a rainy day activity are quite nice.<p>However, storms are loved probably because when it storms predators are also hiding, it is a moment of peace in the animal kingdom.<p>It also means that the ecosystem is getting life from water, plants will grow and there will be food to eat.<p>Just like the Sun rising everyday, it is comforting to have something that contributes to being alive show up.
In Dutch we have a verb that feels suspiciously related to this: <i>uitwaaien</i> - "uit" means "out", "waaien" is the verb for the wind blowing. "Uitwaaien" means to take a walk in rough weather to let the wind clear out the thoughts in your head.
I have noticed the effect of the weather on my moods. Only a particular kind of weather: basically rain, or the heavy overcast clouds that precede a rainstorm. Not any cloudy day, only if there's a strong likelihood of heavy rain.<p>It is noticeable enough that I can tell if the weather is like that when I wake up in the morning, before opening the curtains to look outside.<p>The feeling I get from that weather is kind of depressive, a bit lazy.<p>Putting these things together, some years ago I came to the idea that perhaps it's evolution's way of persuading me to stay at home, keep warm and dry and not catch a cold. I call it a "cave day"... instinct says: stay in cave.<p>This is distinct from the exhilaration of a storm.<p>Possibly related is the nice cozy feeling of being warm and dry in the middle of a downpour. I particularly like it if you can hear the rain, such as when under and iron roof or in a tent.
I have on several occasions run out into the weather, to experience first-hand the raw elemental power of a storm. It is an utterly exhilarating and awe-inspiring experience. It's a shame that where I live, weather systems are rarely energetic enough to develop into severe thunderstorms. On the other hand I'm glad we don't have hurricanes or tornados…
I can relate to that. Once i ran along an electrified (with overhead wires) rail line, located somewhere up the slope of a valley during a thunderstorm. I've been soaked wet by the (warm) rain, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I could look down into the valley over the rail line from the way on which i ran between the pine/spruce trees. Lightning came at least every few seconds, thunder was rolling and cracking all the times, some lightnings struck the poles of the overhead wire. With blue/purple/white tendrils/webs. Everything looked like being illuminated by a stroboscope. The air was a mix of ozone and pine. I felt weightless, like i could fly. Ecstatic. Suspended from time.<p>Very different from when i did for example extreme fast bicycling with Lucifer from Alan Parsons Project on my headphones in endless loop.<p>Whole other level, for maybe 20 minutes, after which i had to turn back because of the way, and the thunderstorm moving onwards.
> Breathing in the ions could also activate the vomeronasal organ, a piece of nose anatomy thought to detect pheromones, and somehow send a positive message to the brain.<p>I wonder if this is what happens when you can smell that a storm is coming or its about to rain?<p>The effects of a storm are pretty interesting. I was going to argue that it would be hard to say that storms would have an impact of most people because most people do not care or are not mindful of what's going on. If it is a major storm you don't have an option. Which can lead to being mindful and aware of what's going on around you. Like a cold shower in the morning will bring you to the present. During a storm you are thinking about the now.<p>The weather and strong storms have always been exciting to watch. I still haven't seen a tornado, but that is on my bucket list to see.
I recall a moment from my teen years. I was riding a bicycle with my much younger brother through remote fields. And a thunderstorm was rapidly approaching with lightnings striking the ground closer and closer. That was not blissful at all.
Well, applied to myself I'd say: The running helps, also the feeling that you should not be doing something else then just wait until it is finished. We hardly feel that we need to survive anything anymore, it may be something that lifts the spirit because simply a will to survive is important. This Blissfulness does not really surprise me.
Does anyone have a view on air ionisers and their usefulness with regards to mood?<p>From what I gather, commercial units are sold based on how well they remove odours but nothing much is mentioned about mood elevation. Can the benefit be had from buying a $100 machine or is this just goop science being sold in an electronic box?