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| View from Bahrain Street, Manara, on the Mediterranean Sea |
I am from a country where we average about 1550 hours of
sunlight per year (source).
Sunlight regulates – among others – the serotonin levels in your brain. And serotonin
is a neurotransmitter (are you still with me?) that plays a role in the regulation of mood, self-confidence and sleep.
Basically, more sun light makes you feel better. That is why, after a period of stormy
weather, you’ll see droves of people out on the Corniche on the first sunny day.
Unconsciously so, they all come to soak in the good stuff.
In Holland we
have what we call SAD; Seasonal
affective disorder. Actually, this disorder probably
exist all over the world, but only in western countries do we have the luxury
to analyze our causes of depression. It’s depression related to the amounts of sunlight.
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| View from Kuwait Street, Manara on the Mediterranean Sea (Bet you didn't know these names.) |
You can
understand why I live in Lebanon. We have between 2000 to 2900 hours of
sunlight a year, depending on what source you get it from. If there is one
thing lacking (among many), it is dependable data. But we’re not lacking
sunlight. People in Lebanon therefore, should be inherently happier.
Unfortunately, we
have a set of politicians – from all sides of the spectrum – that make constant
happiness a sheer impossibility in this place. The only ones happy in fact,
should in theory be the politicians themselves, as they are the only ones that
still make a decent buck in this place, although in their cases, avarice and
greed are more appropriate terms then a ‘decent buck.'
Why this story of
misery and doom? Well, I went to a party last night where I heard horrible
stories of corruption, and when I came home and shared them with my hubbie, he
replied “Oh Siets, that’s nothing. Let me tell you . . . , “ and he added some more stories to
my already vast repertoire of people in powerful places and their blatant
incompetency and mismanagement. We’re ranking 128th out of 174 countries. We’re among the
50 most corrupt countries in the world.
I am going off on
a tangent. What was the point again? Oh yes. Things that make me happy! Sun
light does. And living in a place where I have views on the Mediterranean like this.
3 comments:
It's good to always look at the things that makes us happy. Not easy.. but your post is one of them! thanks for always having a nice look about Lebanon!
...the blue Mediterranean Sea flirts with ones senses as you walk by the streets that give a glimpse of her beauty among the buildings and balconies were many discussions of love and politics can be heard from above... of course this could be said for any city in the world, but this is Beirut, a place that will always show her best, even if it is a sunny day, or not... for she is in a constant struggle not to let one take the path that would lead the person to forget her... I am sure before the summer arrives, these are one of the best days to walk around :-) Enjoy it for the ones that can not be there, (such as I) but feel it through your blog :-)
Siets I love your blog. Always sad to see that corruption is so bad. However I live in Australia. Out of interest google Eddie Obeid and Ian McDonald to see corruption in a western nation
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