
The Strange Blissfulness of Storms - dustfinger
http://earth.nautil.us/article/429/the-strange-blissfulness-of-storms
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hprotagonist
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).

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.

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.

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.

~~~
vanderZwan
That sounds a bit related (but maybe not quite the same as) the concept of
benign masochism.

You're also making me wonder: if we have a sort of "baseline happiness" then
maybe we also have a "baseline fear and worry", and perhaps it is healthy for
our minds to have an outlet to apply that fear to. Something concrete and
external to apply the nagging worry in our heads to

~~~
hprotagonist
benign masochism sounds more like [https://kellycordes.com/2009/11/02/the-fun-
scale/](https://kellycordes.com/2009/11/02/the-fun-scale/) to me.

~~~
vanderZwan
Without further context I can understand why that is one expected meaning of
the term, but a quick skim read suggests it's not the same thing.

The TL;DR of benign masochism is getting the upsides of feeling in danger
_without_ actually being in danger. It is one of the explanations for why
people can learn to like spicy foods, for example: it is harmless pain.

------
drawkbox
Calming sounds of storms are great to relax to, reading a book or having a
rainy day activity are quite nice.

However, storms are loved probably because when it storms predators are also
hiding, it is a moment of peace in the animal kingdom.

It also means that the ecosystem is getting life from water, plants will grow
and there will be food to eat.

Just like the Sun rising everyday, it is comforting to have something that
contributes to being alive show up.

~~~
mlthoughts2018
I also wonder if some of the blissfulness is from modern amenities that
protect us from storms, like strong houses or cars. It may not have been so
blissful scrambling up a tree on the savanna or hiding in a cave where other
predators might take refuge.

For storms this is a maybe but for bad winter weather, I think it’s likely.
Hard to see why we would find winter weather calming except by contrast to
safe, warm protections surrounding us. The romantic ideal of being in outer
space aboard a ship like the Enterprise is similar too.

~~~
aflag
The only mildly concerning thing about a thunderstorm in a hot weather are the
lightings, which very rarely actually hit anything. It's actually nice to get
some time out of the excruciating heat.

~~~
Yetanfou
When I moved into a 17th century farm in the Swedish countryside I quickly
learned to dread the sound of thunder, especially when not at home. The reason
was to be found in the rather ancient and dilapidated power and telephone
distribution networks which lacked - and still lack - things like overcurrent
protection. The effect this gave on anything electronic in the house was, to
put it mildly, not pretty. Lightning did not have to strike the power or
telephone line, it was enough for a strike anywhere near one of these to cause
an electronic-frying pulse to be delivered. I had a stack of ADSL modems to
swap out fried ones after which I repaired or 'fixed' (as in disabled fried
non-essential bits) those which weren't beyond fixing and added them back to
the stack. When I finally got tired of repairing fried pieces of equipment I
installed my own overcurrent protection system on the incoming power line
after which the misery stopped. Initially it stopped because of the sudden and
suspicious absence of thunderstorms, leading to all sorts of superpowers being
ascribed to that grey metal cabinet I hung on the wall. Now, with that box and
a glassfiber connection instead of the old copper phone line Thor is mostly
welcome again, just as long as he refrains from starting forest fires - of
which we've had 2 this summer, not on but ever closer to our land...

~~~
xamuel
Reminds me of back in the late 90s, any time there was a thunderstorm, the
clerks at the public library would go around and unplug all the computers.
Anguish and misery for all us kids awaiting our turns on the precious internet
terminals we'd signed up for hours in advance.

------
vanderZwan
In Dutch we have a verb that feels suspiciously related to this: _uitwaaien_
\- "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.

~~~
agapon
In Ukrainian we have a similar провітритись, literally meaning "let wind blow
through self". I suspect that many Slavic languages have the same.

I wonder if English has something of that nature as well.

------
anentropic
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.

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.

The feeling I get from that weather is kind of depressive, a bit lazy.

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.

This is distinct from the exhilaration of a storm.

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.

------
Sharlin
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…

~~~
chasd00
even a fool knows to come in out of the rain ;)

~~~
Sharlin
Rain does not get through proper clothing. As the saying goes, there's no bad
weather, only insufficient equipment :)

------
LargoLasskhyfv
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.

Very different from when i did for example extreme fast bicycling with Lucifer
from Alan Parsons Project on my headphones in endless loop.

Whole other level, for maybe 20 minutes, after which i had to turn back
because of the way, and the thunderstorm moving onwards.

------
jimkri
> 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.

I wonder if this is what happens when you can smell that a storm is coming or
its about to rain?

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.

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.

------
dasanman
Well yeah it does make me happy when I'm safe inside. Certainly not when I'm
out in it!

~~~
lagadu
I'm the opposite, nothing gets me out of the house as a big, extremely windy
and wet storm; I adore walking during a storm :)

~~~
Sharlin
I guess it's also somewhat different, psychologically, when you do it
intentionally, rather than having no other option than endure the storm
unprotected.

------
agapon
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.

------
pfdietz
This also explains the beneficial effects of pets.

After all, negative ions are cat-ions.

------
teekert
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.

~~~
agent008t
A big power cut also helps sometimes. Suddenly, people are out, neighbours and
strangers are talking to each other, and there is a weird blissfulness.

And then everything goes back to normal, and people go back to avoiding each
other.

~~~
jvm___
I have a theory that the less resources that are available the friendlier
people are. Camping, power outages, rural communities, people are easier to
approach and talk to when there's less stuff available.

------
jspash
Does anyone have a view on air ionisers and their usefulness with regards to
mood?

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?

~~~
tsherr
I'm interested in this as well. I bought an ion air cleaner 20 years ago and
it welded the dust particles to the walls wherever anything was touching the
wall. Had to repaint. Not sure if there are models that work.

