Good Day Sunshine

When I began this blog, I had a clear intention of chronicling my journey from New Jersey to San Diego, both as a means of personal record and means to share my experience with family, friends, and anyone else interested.  This task was the main driving force of this blog, but I also had a glimmer of an idea that I could keep this blog going after my road trip was finished; it could be a chance to practice (I believe one is always practicing the things they do, forever improving no matter how skilled one is in the task at hand) writing and a new channel for commitment and enjoyment.  So now, as I've touched on the overall timeline of my cross-country travels, I'm taking a stab at writing within less-dictated guidelines.  I've been bouncing around the idea that I should make my first non-road-trip-entry for a while now, always wondering what might be interesting enough to write about. And today, the topic came clear to me as if it was calling my name, and I felt enlightened at the realization. LOLJK.  That didn't happen.  I DID however realize that an idea would probably rarely, if ever, hit me that way, and I just had to go for it--try something--and work with what I had.

Here's a thing I LOVE about San Diego--it's practically ALWAYS sunny.  And I soak in every joy-inducing, bright beam of sunshine I catch with a satisfaction that's a combination of disbelief and ecstasy.  The first weekend I was here, I went to a bonfire on the beach at Coronado.  It wasn't exactly summer clothes & swimsuit kinda weather--I was comfortably sporting jeans and a hoodie.  Even still, I couldn't get over the fact that I was relaxing on the beach in February.  Sure, you can do that in New Jersey--but it'd be a lot colder.  I must've sounded like a toddler who just learned a new phrase--constantly repeating myself, over and over, no matter what was going on.

"Hey, want a soda?"
"No thanks. Wow I can't believe I'm on the beach in February!"

"Can you pass me the marshmallows?"
*Passes bag.* "Wow, I can't believe I'm on the beach in February!"

"How do you like your new place?"
"HEY DID YOU HEAR I'M ON THE BEACH IN FEBRUARY!!"

I think you get the idea.

This sunshine and warmth has been working wonders on my psyche.  Don't get me wrong--I've never been a girl that hated winter.  I always loved playing in the snow and sledding, and had forever felt a certain gratitude for growing up somewhere that had four seasons.  I though it was funny and adorable my freshman year of college when some new friends from California marveled at their first snowfall.  But as the weight of recent years had been piling up on my shoulders, I was finding less joy in snow that was hardly falling this winter, and more misery in the grayness of the season.  This girl was in desperate need of sunshine.

I've noticed that even on my down days here, the days when familiar depressing thoughts begin to creep up on me again, or days I feel homesick, I've maintained a steadfast beacon-thought that "I may be down, but I'm much better than I was two months ago".

There are a lot of factors in my move out here that have led me to this point, and though I suppose I can't attribute it entirely to the bountiful sunshine, I know it's played a huge roll.

Have you ever had a similar experience?  Finding amazing therapeutic power in sunshine?  Or perhaps suffered from a lack thereof?  How did you cope with gray skies?