The Happiest Non-Holiday Day of the Year

It’s the first day of summer other wise known as the summer solstice or the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  My happiness comes from knowing that I have the whole relaxing season ahead of me.  As a kid we used to just live for the school year to end and for the carefree days of summer to take over.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I loved school and school friends and school activities, but a break was always a good thing.

Even though I have been out of school for thirty years now I still welcome the first day of summer as if it is a gift that was given me even though now summer does not change my in my day-to-day life much.  Perhaps it is the increased amount of sunlight?

For me in Durham North Carolina I will enjoy fourteen hours and thirty-six minutes of sunlight today.  Fourteen hours of sunlight is a good number.  When I lived in London the summer solstice was two hours longer due to it’s northerly location on the earth.  Having the sun come up at 4:45 and not go back down until after nine thirty is almost too much daylight.

Why, you ask?  I am a morning person so I tend to wake up with the sun. Four in the morning is an early start.  An early breakfast means an early lunch followed by an early dinner and then since it is light so late I think it must be time for another meal.  So more sunlight means more eating for me.  In the winter if I am having a nighttime craving I just go to bed and I have somehow avoided eating in my sleep.  In the brightness of summer I have a harder time going to bed artificially early thus the opportunity to over eat.

The eating issue is quickly overruled by the false sense of lack of responsibilities in the summer.  This is an issue I clearly need to out grow.  I am less vigilant about looking at my calendar.  I miss meetings and appointments and people are more forgiving, thinking I must be on vacation.  Sometimes I am on vacation so if I don’t show up for something I am apologizing now, preemptively.  Then again, fewer meetings are planned for the summer and that could be another reason for the euphoric feeling I get from the summer solstice.

Whatever the reason it makes me happy.  I hope it makes you happy too.  I imagine I am not alone.  I have never heard of anyone who had seasonal depression from too much sunlight.  So enjoy your long day today.  You might not be able to put your finger on the cause of your happy feeling, but its summer, don’t think too hard about it and just lay back.