My family and I had lived in Texas for half a decade until two months ago. When we left they were experiencing a terrible drought while much of the rest of the country was suffering from flooding due to all of the rain. My family has been fortunate to avoid either disaster (as we didn’t deal with crops or encounter any flooding). Having returned to the Midwest, we find ourselves in a rather lush environment that has recently been getting its fair share of rain. You know how the weather can affect your mood? I’m normally happier on days when I wake up to natural sunlight. Don’t know why, but I just seem to be happier when that happens. Well, it turns out that rain and thunderstorms actually motivate me to work. I can’t explain it, but waiting up to cloudy skies and the sounds of thunder and rainfall get me in the mood to be productive.
Perhaps this is just a reminder of weekend or summer days as a child when it was inconvenient to play outside during a storm. At any rate, when this fortuitous precipitation is in full swing I fling open the windows and screen doors, get a pen and my notebook, and turn on the tea pot. With a hot mug of black tea by my side and the soothing sounds of early morning storm all around me, I write unimpeded for hours. It’s really incredible. I’ve never before had a reason to “pray for rain,” but I think I’ve found one. I am remarkably productive. I’ve tried reproducing that feeling artificially (through high quality recordings), but that doesn’t work for the length of time a real storm does. At any rate, try to keep a list of the circumstances when you find it easy to be productive. Then, try to recreate them. Absent that, utilize them fully when they present themselves.