# 151: Happiness and the Sun
Story behind the Passage
You might think this post is going to be really trivial which, in fact, it might be. But I have to talk about the weather today because it is closely related to one of the most important — if not the most important topics — moving the minds of human beings: HAPPINESS. Yes, this is what I am going to discuss today because I watched a short interview with a German journalist and she said the following sentence (quoting from memory):
“Happiness is not a state, it is experiencing short moments of bliss — like the birds singing in spring.” — Christine Westermann
And I totally agree. I do think, you do not have to get (very) old to find out that happiness is just what she is describing above but I totally understand if you think otherwise. I am not claiming that either Westermann or myself are have found the ultimate happiness formula. I do not know her in person and I hardly know myself that well to claim that such universal wisdom is more than just some temporary illusion. What I do know, however, is that happiness for me is related to the weather and the seasons. This is what I found evidence of in her statement. She is not talking about winter or fall, she is talking about spring!
So, this made me think of the fact that I miss the sun. Or rather, I missed it a lot. I missed it for so many months. Now that it has come out again after what appeared to me like a long winter, I feel better — warmer inside and outside. I know, the weather forecaster today already said it is going to change again but it does not matter. Right now, I am happy about the fact that I see the blue sky again and I can feel the sun. For people who know me, they also know how much I love the sun. I was born on a hot August day and my zodiac sign also reveals that I am on the fiery side of the spectrum. One of my best friends actually compared to a lizard when we were hiking — because I also use every opportunity to sit on a rock to absorb the sun.
All this also made me remember, however, that around this time of the year, I usually spend time in the sun — I mean, in the real sun in really sunny countries. If you wonder what differentiates the “real” sun from the “not-so-real” sun in our country — which, after all, seems to be complete bullshit because there is only ONE sun for everybody (unless the physics folks made a really bad mistake) — I mean the fact that the sun feels different wherever you go and whenever you go. After all, there is a reason why practically every travel guide you buy opens with some passages about the climate, right? And these passages always appear at the very beginning. So, there is something about the weather that certainly is not trivial for human beings. This is exactly what my Lonely Planet passage above suggests.
My Learnings
“For hiking the mountains or the desert, the best time to visit is in the spring (April and May) when temperatures are mild, days are sunny and winter rains have turned the hills and pastures green and flower-flacked.” Well, before I start talking abut the sentence, I am just realizing how impressed I am that this is the first Lonely Planet passage that appears on my blog. I mean, Lonely Planets are my companions. They have spent more time with me on trips than any other human being. Well, this is easy because I never travel with other human beings but I travel with other books. The Lonely Planet, however, usually is the one and only book that I carry in my backpack from beginning till end while other books come and go, depending on how quickly I read them when I travel.
So, the reason why I have chosen the Lonely Planet on Israel and the Palestinian Territories today is because I usually go there in early spring. In the past years — I mean, before last year — the sun was already quite hot in February/March. And it made me HAPPY, you bet. I suck up the sun, I breathe it. I do not actually care if the weather is “mild” or more than mild or already like summer. The most important thing is to climb on that plane when it is still winter and dark in Germany and fly for four hours and then the cabin door opens and boom — you stand there and you feel the sun (even if it is cloudy there — the real sun can still be felt). It is amazing, mind blowing, pure joy.
Not so this year, obviously.
Not so last year, at least not for me.
I have not traveled abroad since Covid started.
The thing that I am wondering about, however, is why many of us do not try harder to actually arrange for these moments of happiness to occur, especially if they are so easy to get as in my case. My happiness barometer obviously is tied to the weather. So, no matter what else happens in my life, I can still experience these small moments of happiness which Westermann is talking about if I just make sure I go to where the sun is shining. I mean, yes, nowadays in the pandemic it is a bit different but I mean in general. Why have I not already escaped to some warmer country — permanently?
For sure, I planned on doing that while I was still a kid. I was a 100% sure that I wanted to live in the desert. I still want to live in the desert. That is another reason why Israel usually is my spring destination. It is a small country but there is much desert around. And that is why the sentence about “hiking the mountains or the desert” is particularly appealing to me. Yes, it can be quite dangerous if you go hiking in the desert when the sun is really burning. But not so in spring, usually. I would not describe it as “mild” either. I would rather call it “almost summerly.” It is just that the sun does not burn that long during the day.
Even while I am writing this, I start noticing how much I miss the desert. If there is one thing that I am looking forward to when this pandemic is finally “over” or at least under so much control that travel will be possible under “normal” regulations — it is a trip to the desert. As I warned you above, this might sound really stupid and profane in a time when people are worrying about death and bankruptcy, but it is the thing that I am thinking about most these days. And, of course, it is not just about going there — it is the entire story of travel that I associate with all my previous trips to the desert. These memories travel with me and, yes, they cause more moments of happiness.
As we know, we can cheat our brains. If we imagine we are traveling, our brain sees the same images in our minds and we can experience similar feelings as the ones we have on actual trips. But, really, you can do a lot with your brain, no doubt. But there are limits, I think. We also have one body that is capable of sensing things before they reach the brain. And there is a difference — a real one, not an imagined one — when our skin feels the sun, we hear the birds, we smell the air as it gets warmer. This is happiness.
Reflection Questions
1) Where do you experience moments of happiness?
2) Do you agree that happiness is not a state but a series of short moments?
3) What is your favorite season and why?