When Hannah and I started Ditch The Umbrella, we decided we should include mood ratings and a brief description of the weather so that we could, at some point, plot our emotional calendars over time. Hence, the creation of the “I’m so miserable I can’t get out of bed” to “I’m jumping for joy” scale.
But a funny thing has happened. If you look back at our posts, you’ll notice that my mood is almost always the same from day to day. I tend to hold steady at a 7. Hannah’s fluctuates a bit more, most often wavering between a 5 and a 7, and often settling on a 6.
Could we actually be the happiest people alive? For those of you that know us, we’re happy, but not constantly joyous! So why the trend?
Of course, we like writing this blog, and that brings us some pleasure, though I can’t imagine it influences our moods more than one point. One possibility is that when we’re truly miserable and stressed, we just don’t post. But that doesn’t account for those days that Hannah posts and asks me for my mood rating—which punches a big hole in that thesis. Another guess is that our perception of the scale is off. If I’m neither happy nor unhappy, a 5 sounds a bit low to me. As neither happy nor unhappy, I’m perfectly fine, and who wants to be middling anyway? I’d rather take a stance. For me at least, this is one of the biggest barriers to accuracy.
And finally, there’s always the issue of transparency. I’ve always marveled at those bloggers who share anything and everything—they post play-by-plays of the dates they go on, document troubled friendships, and seemingly share every last detail of their lives. I’m not one of them. And yet I’m blogging about my emotional calendar, which inevitably touches on personal topics. So it’s also likely a self-reporting bias is at play, which may help explain my consistent ratings.
I’m going to keep these ideas in mind as I rate my moods moving forward, so if my standard numbers are lower than usual, consider it a course correction!
Weather: A gray, chilly, and snowless winter day.
Moods:
Anna – 6 out of 10 on the “so miserable I can’t get out of bed” to “jumping for joy” scale. I’m slightly more happy than unhappy, and apparently I don’t like 5s.
Hannah – 5.5 out of 10. It’s a gray day and she has a headache.
Ditch the Umbrella 
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