View from my window

I work in a law office above a Vietnamese bakery in Echo Park.  I have an office with a huge east facing glass window.  My computer faces the window allowing me a panoramic view of Echo Park Avenue. From my window, I see the hills full of houses.  Echo Park, along with Silver Lake and Hollywood, is full of hills.  I watch the traffic run up and down the street.  There is an amazing amount of people walking up and down, going about running errands and walking dogs.  

Recently, the owner of the bakery took down the banner that spanned the length of the front of the building.  This resulted in light flooding my office.  Not that my office lacked lighting, far from it.  I normally do not turn on the overhead lights because my office is naturally lit by the sunlight.  Not only am I saving energy, but am also reducing my carbon footprint.  Quite frankly, to be honest, I also hate the overhead florescent lights.  However, the banner provided much needed shade from the harshness of the California sun.  This is true of the mornings when the sun is rising and it floods my office with sunlight.  Summer mornings can be especially sunny and warm.  

At first, I was annoyed by the fact that the shade the banner provided was gone.  Great, I thought, I will be inundated by bright sunlight which will inevitably bring on one of my dreaded migraines.  But then, I started noticing certain things.  The first thing I noticed was that I was in a better mood.  The second thing I noticed was that since the days have been overcast lately, the light in my office has been soft.  It adds a certain coziness to my office.  Then I noticed that my good mood continued.  Today, it dawned on me that the added brightness in my office was making me happier!  Don’t get me wrong, I am currently having a love/hate relationship with my job, but the mood in my office lately has been one of bliss and serenity. 

I have started to daydream more too.  That may or may not be a good thing.  I find myself looking out the window and staring at the big fluffy white clouds dance their way across the sky.  I find beauty in the way the palm trees sway in the distance.  I keep watching the painter painting the windowsill in the building next door and marvel at his steady and patient movements.  I enjoy watching the hot pink and purple cascades of bougainvillea flutter about in the wind while their flowers abandon the security of the stem to float away to the uncertainty of unknown places.  I watch the cats across the street as they amble lazily about.  They stop on the stoops and curl up for a few minutes to either take a nap or lick their paws.  They also stare out into space and seem to daydream along with me.  

Yes, I am certainly happier with more light.