Gray Days and Mondays

Today it is overcast. In our area this is fairly normal for this time of year. We have names like "May Gray" and "June Gloom" for the typical weather pattern for SoCal. We like to joke that if you can say "night and morning low clouds" you too can be a weatherman for the area.

Today it is probably going to stick around since they say it might have a light rain tomorrow.

I don't mind. I like rain (especially when I don't have to drive in it) and don't mind overcast days as a rule (I dislike hot weather so SoCal's July-Oct weather can be a bit much for me). Besides, this area needs the water so I say, rain away!

I know that many people find their moods affected by weather patterns. There are even names for it, like Seasonal Affective Disorder, to describe the feelings some people get when living in an area with little sunshine in the winter. This is more common in areas like Seattle but not common in Southern California because, honestly, we have good weather and sunshine most of the year.

In the same way, many people find Mondays hard to bear, much like Garfield. This is mostly true for people because they don't like their work. It wasn't that long ago when I wasn't too thrilled with Mondays myself. My work was pretty awful--tedious, not fulfilling, unrelated to my interests and strengths, and filled with people who went out of their way to be mean and rude. Worse, I found myself finding the cubicle atmosphere almost claustrophobic. My little cubicle was in an office with no windows.

I was locked away from sunlight or any view that wasn't light tan cubicle material for 8 hours a day. Meanwhile there was a beautiful park and bay within view of the front door of the building and I couldn't even go out for lunch because if I didn't eat lunch at my desk when working, I had to go home even later, making it hard to beat the commute and cook dinner.

Now I am unemployed, thanks to a layoff, and I work on my couch next to a giant window overlooking my front yard. My laptop allows me to work with a great view.

I'm grateful that on this Monday I woke up and didn't dread going anywhere. I do find the overcast skies a little gloomy, after the beauty of the outdoors this weekend, but I'm grateful for the coolness it provides and I'm grateful because I get to see it from my window.

I hope that my next job will be something I can look forward to doing each Monday. If I am very lucky it also won't involve a cubicle prison where I felt like I was being buried alive in padded tan walls. A window might be nice or the chance to see the outdoors occasionally.

Today I am celebrating the beauty of Mondays, overcast or not. The world really is a beautiful place to be. If you are not stuck inside in a cubicle, take a moment to enjoy the fresh air. If you are cubicle-bound, like I was, try to find someway to escape even for a few minutes today to someplace beautiful, whether it is your own backyard or some other location. If the weather is awful where you are and not just overcast, maybe try visualizing the natural beauty of our world.

Really, how can we have bad Mondays in such an amazing world?