I wonder if there is a word to describe the way weather or seasons can evoke memories. I’ve always been a writer and I don’t mean by profession, I mean, I have always loved writing things down. Whether lists, thoughts, prayers, stories, reports, notes and everything in between. I like using a pen and making those squiggly marks we call letters and words. Recently I picked up the practice of writing ‘morning pages’ again - a practice many will have heard of which I first came across through reading the book by Julia Cameron called ‘The Artists’ Way’. The idea is to fill two sides of A4 paper with all the thoughts you wake up with so that you kind of empty your mind of the noise and clutter that can so often prevent creative thought from flourishing. Every morning I was splurging out what needed to be splurged and then tearing it up and throwing it away as is the advised method. However, I began to notice that my writing was becoming more than splurging out my worries and mundane preoccupations. I started to write down everything I was noticing outside my bedroom window. Now, I am very fortunate to live with an extraordinary view across fields and sky. I see the sun rising and setting every day (unless it’s cloudy obviously!) . The interesting thing was, that as I paid attention to the weather, light and anything that caught my eye, I started to remember things from my past.
One particularly dark October morning, I could hear the rain falling on the velux window in my room and the sky was dark and heavy with a subtle orange glow. This kind of dark morning as late autumn sets in often reminds me of going to school on the bus with the rain outside and the car headlights bright and fuzzy; the sound of tyres against the wet roads and sprays of water as they travel along. I remembered the over warm classrooms and in particular the cookery room where I met with my tutor group first thing in the mornings. I could almost smell the aroma of it, like cooked pastry, as if the formica topped tables and walls had absorbed all those baking smells over many years. Specific memories and feelings I had at the time came to me as I wrote. I remembered the freedom I had as I walked back to the bus stop to travel home again at the end of the day with my cooking in a basket. The joy and relief of walking through the front door of my home is something I still experience now.
All this came from the weather and light one morning in October and each morning since has brought something new. The landscape, light and weather can be such a catalyst for emotions and memories if we allow them to come to the surface. Sometimes memories are painful but for me the acknowledgement of a memory helps me to feel more connected with my life and the natural world. It’s a wonderful thing to realise that throughout my life it’s been the same sun that has risen and set and the same weather conditions and quality of light throughout the year and changing seasons.
I know I am not alone in this - I’d love to hear other people’s experiences of weather induced memories. Please comment if anything comes to mind. Or contact me through my website. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy whatever weather you are experiencing today!