Rainy Mornings at Home

I was woken up this morning to the sound of a torrential downpour happening just outside our windows. It was pitch black and the whole bedroom felt cool, dark, and safe, exactly the kind of combination that makes it extremely hard to get out of bed.

So we didn’t. We slept in until 9:45, which is unheard of in our house, but we all desperately needed it after we all stayed up until midnight last night for the 4th, and we woke up feeling a little sleepy but mostly refreshed. The rain is still coming down right now and it’s cloudy and cozy and my favorite kind of weather, truly. I always think it’s the sunny days I love most, but deep down it really is these cloudy, rainy days where you just want to stay cooped up inside on the couch with a good book or movie.

It’s days like today where I am so very grateful we work from home and get to enjoy these cozy rainy days in our 100 year old house.

Where I feel safe and sound on dark, rainy days, on the flip side, PJ feels down and, well, sadder. I know weather can greatly affect one’s mood, and it’s interesting to see how we both feel so differently in the same weather. It turns out that those dark and moody mornings that make me want to sleep in longer can actually cause your mood to change if you experience too many of them. According to Self:

“There are various factors that may influence how and why dreary weather affects your mood, but scientists believe that a lack of sunlight is mostly to blame. “Light can be thought of as a ‘drug’ of sorts,” David Avery, MD, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, tells SELF. When there’s too little sunshine, you’ll start to feel it—emotionally and physically.

That’s because your body relies on sunlight to keep your internal clock in check; it regulates your sleep-wake cycle. A dose of morning light helps you feel alert, so when it’s raining for days on end, you might start to feel drowsy. This can mess with your normal sleep patterns, causing you to snooze more or less than you usually do—and disrupting the quality of your sleep can mess with your mood, research suggests.”

So one of us loves rainy days at home and the other doesn’t. Where to you stand on that discussion? And just for fun, here are seven reasons to love rainy days.