Darkish rain clouds. Gusty wind. The heavens primed to open. For many, these are indicators to remain indoors. Not Matt Gaw. For this self-confessed aficionado of gnarly climate, rainstorms have him reaching for the latch.
Why? Principally, he says, it’s simply “good enjoyable”. As adults, reckons the character author and secondary college instructor, climate offers us the chance to indulge our primal intuition for play.
The grottier it’s, in truth, the higher. He recollects lately standing on an uncovered promontory on the Isle of Skye, for instance, his teenage youngsters at his aspect, the climate “blowing a hoolie”. It was, he says, a vacation spotlight.
“The wind, you recognize, it creates this sort of sensory overload pushing towards your pores and skin,” he explains. “Physiologically, it stresses our our bodies, which might really make us really feel fairly euphoric.”
That very same conviction led him on a search of Britain’s famously assorted climes. The subtitle of his subsequent guide, In All Weathers, offers a favour of what he discovered: A Journey By Rain, Fog, Wind, Ice and The whole lot In Between.
However, let’s be trustworthy, getting soaked to the pores and skin or freezing to the bone isn’t at all times ‘enjoyable’ – at the least, not within the typical sense. However enjoyable as frivolity isn’t Gaw’s major that means: what issues to him extra is the enjoyment of being “actually current in life” that publicity to the climate permits. Who, in any case, stands in a hailstorm and scrolls on their cellphone or frets concerning the unfinished hoovering?
The identical logic explains Gaw’s antipathy to the favored notion of climate being ‘good’ or ‘unhealthy’. In Britain particularly, he causes, ready for a sunny day to be able to hit the paths or go to the park might see you languishing at dwelling for days on finish.
Not solely will we find yourself lacking out, however cocooning ourselves towards something that might deliver on a chill or muddy our footwear is an evolutionary misstep in Gaw’s view. By adapting our environments to go well with us, he argues, we’ve lower ourselves off from the world round us. Climate, in distinction, presents a approach to reconnect, “which does wonders for our physique and our soul”.
The great thing about the climate is its ubiquitous availability. ‘Come rain or shine’, and all that. All it takes is a step out the door. Clearly, take some primary precautions, Gaw advises. However not too many. In any case, dressing head to toe in windproof, breathable, water resistant garb can somewhat spoil the purpose.
The wind creates this sort of sensory overload pushing towards your pores and skin. Physiologically, it stresses our our bodies, which might really make us really feel fairly euphoric
Personally, he loves nothing greater than swimming outdoor in heavy rain or, higher nonetheless, within the snow. That’s not for everybody, he concedes. Standing exterior is sufficient: simply so long as you’re tuned in to the wind in your hair or the rain in your pores and skin.
Nonetheless, the love of all weathers generally is a tough promote. As Gaw wryly observes, Brits would a lot somewhat discuss concerning the climate, than expertise it. His resolution? Begin with the place individuals are at. So, the subsequent time your colleague says: “Oh, it’s depressing on the market”, gently ask them: “Why?” “What’s the expertise like, of you being on the market? Was it actually that depressing?” he says in function play mode.“Finally, all of it comes right down to our mindset and simply attempting to be extra open.”
And what about his college students: do they purchase in to Gaw’s imaginative and prescient? It’s tough to inform, he admits. Some assume he’s a “moron”, for positive. However others seem extra receptive. A couple of even went for a run within the rain the opposite day. And did they get pleasure from it? He smiles.“They liked it!”
In All Weathers by Matt Gaw is out now, revealed by Elliott & Thompson Restricted
Pictures by Eleanor Church / Lark Rise Footage
