Light Revealing Experience

    Light affects how we see things, how we experience things, and how we feel about spaces and places. I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina where the springs are clear and colorful, the summers are bright and humid, the fall is cloudy and crisp, and the winters are cold and gloomy. When I was younger our house was surrounded by a lot of trees that the light would filter though and create spotlights on the ground that would dance in the breeze. In the winter after all of the leaves fell away all that was left was the skeleton-like shadows of the trees and you could see across the landscape better without the leaves to get in the way. However, eventually the trees started to be cut down and new developments started going up and although the trees remain the affects are not quite as drastic as they once were.

       As I grew older I developed a love for travel and the experiences that new places had to offer. I’ve traveled to almost all of the 50 United States, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean and every place has its own feel and will leave you with a unique experience. In the Caribbean and Mexico the bright sun reflects off the water and the sand while there is little opportunity for shade with the sparsely placed palm trees. In Alaska the sky can be overcast and rainy with only the reflection of the gray clouds on the water and then on sunny days the sun glimmers on the water, the glaciers, and though the trees. While visiting my brother in the Great Smoky Mountains the mornings were foggy and gray and gave the light and the air a hazy appearance. When I traveled to San Francisco, California the cool, clear climate made the feel of the city cheery and exciting. Then there were places out west like Arizona where the air was so hot and humid and it made the landscape seem so bright it was hard to look at without sunglasses or squinting.

       One thing that I have noticed is that the more temperature comfortable climates seemed to have just the right amount of light to make the landscapes seem clear and colorful. Whereas the places where it was too cold or too hot and humid often the light was either too much to where it was hard to bear the sunlight or not enough to where you felt sleepy from lack of serotonin. Another thing that I have noticed over the years is I much prefer natural light over artificial light. In order to feel comfortable in a place or space I always need at least some natural sunlight or I start getting uncomfortable or just sleepy. So it’s safe to say I could probably never live in Alaska in the winter where the sun does not rise for thirty days or in a city where there is a lot of dreary cloudy weather. I think that having clear, pleasant, sunny weather makes any experience more comfortable and more fun.