Traveling the world is easily one of the most beautiful, eye-opening experiences to almost anyone. Who wouldn’t love to dip their feet in the warm, clear waters of Hawaii? Perhaps coming face to face with the Statue of Liberty while eating New York’s famous pizza is more your speed! In short, anyone can agree that some places bring up our vibrations, while some may not. Maybe the radiating Hawaiian sun brings you stress, or the New York gloom brings you sadness. While everyone is different, we all have one thing in common: location affects our mental health! No matter if it has a positive or negative affect on you, your region manifests how you feel on the inside. To prove my point, I created my own research project called “The Swedish Theory”.I traveled to Sweden for half of the summer, and for the other half I went to Southern California to record the difference in my well-being. I will base these feelings on aesthetic, sensory and people. Let’s get started!
First, I paid attention to how I felt emotionally based on sensory. The first day I arrived in Karlshamn, Sweden I was instantly greeted by grass fields, farm animals, and blooming flowers. No urban noises were heard and the sun was beaming on my skin. I recorded the word “peace” in my journal. I felt a weight lifted off of me. I felt as though there was nothing for me to worry about. On the other hand, California is a more fast paced lifestyle. Specifically where I settled, the noise of traffic filled my ears all day. The closest “grass field” was the local park, and the air was humid and uncomfortable. I wrote down the phrase “fast-paced” in this category. While it is apparent that many feel more productive and therefore happier within this lifestyle, this can easily be a way of life that may heavily increase stress.
The next category was people. On the second day of being in Sweden, I went to the local store with my family to pick up some food. Luckily, I am fluent in Swedish so I can have easy interactions in this country without confusion. The interactions were light-hearted, quick and normal nonetheless. While in California, I recorded the interaction between me and an employee at a local restaurant. The employee was very kind, outgoing and understanding. For both of these social interactions, I recorded “happy” and “understood” within this category.
For the last category, I paid attention to the aesthetics (how the environments look physically). In Sweden, the traditional Swedish house I stayed at was spotless with very minimal furniture and decor. There were plants sat on the windowsill, giving life to the home. With this observation I recorded my feeling as “calm”. Similar to the sensory category, I felt a sense of tranquility, making my stay pleasing and enjoyable. The Californian home had a brighter, yellow-tone feel to it. It is popular to have loud statement pieces in a Californian home rather than small, quiet statement pieces. With this, I explained that I felt “alive” while being in a home like this.
After spending a good amount of time in both of these places, I came to the conclusion that location without a doubt affects your mental health! While in Sweden, I felt calm and at a slow pace. I never once felt stressed, and I felt closer to nature more than ever. In California, I felt much more active sensory wise. There was never really a moment where I felt necessarily relaxed, except for when I was sleeping. What’s absolutely fascinating about this theory is that someone else could have the complete opposite opinion as me! Every person feels better mentally in different places. Where you are meant to be will eventually find you. This is the beauty of the Swedish theory.
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