We often think of gray days as being a bit depressing, but in issue 14, journalist Catelijne Elzes has discovered that bad weather can actually be really refreshing and inspiring. Below you can read a preview of the article.
It seems like yesterday: I was jumping about in a T-shirt, skirt and bare feet. Drenched through and through. It was already dark outside. I was staying at a friend’s house, and a babysitter was in charge. It had started raining cats and dogs, and the babysitter said, “Let’s go outside!” For an hour, we danced and swayed, turning our faces upward to the downpour. Laughing. Because it was wonderful. No grown-ups telling us to go back indoors, or “You’re getting dirty, wet, cold” or anything like that. And I have no memories of hating the rain as a child. Not even when we were on vacation.
So why did that change? When did I start responding to a rain shower with hunched shoulders and a long face? Or, as the title of Dutch comedian and author Jan Jaap van Hoeckel’s book so eloquently states, Wie heeft ons in godsnaam geleerd dat regen slecht weer is? (Who in God’s name taught us that rain is bad weather?). According to Van Hoeckel, there is no such thing as “bad” weather. Just as there are no good or bad trees. The idea that rain is a bad thing is something that we are taught in the course of our life. Along with a lot of other norms, values, judgments and prejudices that can hinder our pursuit of happiness quite a bit. So we need to free ourselves of these ideas, he says. And when the fascinating book Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett landed on my desk, I knew for sure: it’s time to rediscover the good side of bad weather.
Read more about the positive side of rain in our new issue, issue 14. You can order issue 14 in our web shop. Or you can find your copy in bookstores all over the world. Take a look at the storelocator, or e-mail us at redactie-flow.nl@dpgmediamagazines.nl for more information.
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