of baking and other things

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baking, chocolate eggs, food, happy, new paint, paint brushes, quotes, restaurants

After a lovely day spent with friends, good food and lounging in front of an open fire, today feels more subdued, tranquil even. The street is quite, no cars filled with people rushing off to church, family visits or other trips, no kids squabbling over chocolate eggs and even the pigeons that normally ‘gurr’ seem to have lost their voices.

My morning has been peaceful and relaxed, I spend a luxurious amount of time lingering over a cup of tea and a book. Very opposed to yesterday where my morning was filled with family chats and baking an Easter loaf.

But somehow I feel energised, excited about the day that feels filled with promise. And I can’t help but think about the German saying “In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft” (There is power in tranquility). Although I am a little unsure of what that may really mean, or how it may express itself, I am willing to wait and see.

And so far it has worked out well, I have managed to make my bed,  put on a wash, hang it up, clean my floors and even write this blog without breaking a sweat or feeling it was work.  Inspired by all this  “doing” I think I will  bake another loaf just for myself and maybe even break in the new paint brushes I bought last week in an attempt to reignite my passion for painting. But before I do any of that I have a little project I have been meaning to do for a while now and think today is the perfect day to take a few minutes to do it, let my energy create a little something new.

Like that wonderful Moody Blues song Higher and Higher puts it so well:

Climb to tranquility, finding it’s real worth, conceiving the heavens flourishing on earth

a home baked eater loaf

summer came

Tags

afternoon stroll, Dublin, endorphins, halo-effect, happy, miscellaneous, psychology, random, summer, sunshine, thoughts, warmth of the sun

I can’t believe it but for four days now the sun has not disappointed and shines down on beautiful Dublin. But as today is Monday my desk is calling and I have to leave the beautiful day outside and try and keep my head down and type.

Studies have shown that we become nicer when the sun is shining, we tend to be quicker to answer researchers, give directions more readily and we even reach further into our pockets and give larger tips. Even the stock-markets trade more and is three times more likely to go up when the sun shines. Yes, even traders and investors feel more positive on sunny days, but unlike us they don’t just buy an ice-cream cone but put their money into bonds.

This happiness and optimism that awakens in us when the sun comes out to play is called the “halo-effect”. Now the halo effect defines how we see things due to our knowledge of an other thing. So, if someone is good at say card games we assume they are good at dice games too, or if someone is bad at football we assume they are bad at basketball as well. And when the sun shines making endorphins bounce around in our brains we just assume everything is good, because we feel good.

Sadly the downside to summer frolicking is that the suicide rate goes up. The reason behind this is that someone who is feeling low sees lots of happy, jolly people and it makes them feel worse about themselves so they become more prone to seeking a permanent solution.

But with all that said I just think most of us love the luxury of letting the warmth of the sun caress our skins and enjoy wearing light summery clothes. Of course we have to be mindful to not burn but letting the sun tickle us helps produce Vitamin D and as our skin is highly efficient at doing just that only 15-30 minutes of sunshine creates the same amount as drinking 200 glasses of milk would.

But as I can’t resist much longer I’ll give in to the lure of the sun and wander down to the park for a mid-afternoon stroll. And as I am not a fan of milk myself I think I may just treat myself to an ice-cream, let my skin take care of the vitamin D production and let my endorphins run wild.