Image courtesy of Cosmogirl.com
In the musical Grease, Sandy and Danny became the poster children for summer romance. Their “Summer Nights” is a fun and silly homage to the summer fling. In recent years, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams stole our hearts as Noah and Allie in The Notebook, a story revolving around a summer romance that never ended. We have these romantic notions about love under the sun. You go to the beach, meet some amazing person and have some whirlwind love affair until it all ends in the fall. Although there really is no precise time to fall in love, it seems seasons may have an effect on how we fall.
There seems to be some truth behind relationships that happen in the warm spring and summer months, but it’s not as romantic as we’d like to think. It’s more biological. After the cold, sometimes depressing winter months, we welcome the sun and spend as much time under it as possible. Higher levels of sunlight have been linked to the creation of serotonin and melanocyte stimulating the hormone MSH in the body. Serotonin is responsible for feelings of well-being and happiness while MSH (responsible for making us tanner) is linked to feelings of lust. Combined, these two set the mood for being more optimistic and open to love.
On the other hand, winter is linked to trouble in paradise if you’re in a relationship. Many people are known to suffer from seasonal affective disorder which causes feelings of depression due to the darker winter months. This is linked to serotonin’s opposite, melatonin. Melatonin is created in darker environments and can lead to depressive symptoms. If we’re unhappier in the winter, we may be unhappier in our relationships and find more things to nitpick about (that little habit that normally isn’t such a big deal may become a deal breaker). The holiday season also can be a stressful time for couples.
These seasons seem to present two extremes. Summer makes us willing to try anything, and winter makes us unwilling to try. So it seems like the best season may be the season in-between; autumn. We’re coming down from that summer lovin’ high so we make more rational decisions, but we also aren’t suffering from the winter blues so we are more optimistic. Dr. Diana Kirschner, psychologist, love expert and author of Love in 90 Days, also says that we are honed from a young age to be more sociable in fall, making it the perfect time to find the right relationship.
“For around the first 20 years of our lives, including preschool and college, we are encouraged by our families to socialize in autumn as we enter a new grade with new peers,” she writes.
So if we can make our summer lovin’ transition into fall, we may just be able to make it through the winter and create a love for all seasons.
Dominique Dawes may forever be identified as one of the “Magnificent Seven” from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but her impact on and off the mat extends far beyond that gold medal moment.
Dawes started in gymnastics at age six and was competing by age 10. She managed to score a place on the 1992 U.S. team bound for Barcelona, becoming the first African-American gymnast to qualify for the 
Olympics. Dawes ended up winning the bronze medal alongside her teammates. At the 1994 Nationals, she swept the board by winning the all-around title as well as securing gold medals in all four individual events. In addition to contributing to her team’s epic gold-medal victory, Dawes became the first African-American gymnast to win an individual medal at the Atlanta Games (a bronze for floor exercise). Dawes even managed to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
This three-time Olympian has kept busy since retiring from gymnastics. She’s worked as a multimedia correspondent for Yahoo! Sports during the Beijing Olympics and has covered both national as well as international gymnastics competitions for the likes of TNT, CBS Sports and Comcast Sports Net. Dawes also has made moves outside the broadcasting booth by appearing in the Broadway musical Grease as well as music videos for Prince and Missy Elliott.
Dawes is now making a name for herself as a motivational speaker. Sharing her personal and professional philosophy known as D-3 (Determination, Dedication, Desire). Dawes spreads her message of establishing self-esteem through positive body image coupled with a strong work ethic to youth and women’s groups. She also offers gymnastics clinics at facilities across the country, passing her love of the sport on to athletes of all ages. She earned her degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2002 and served as president for the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2005 to 2006. She’s even been a spokesperson for empowering crusades like the Girl Scouts of America’s Uniquely Me campaign.
With her accomplishments in the gym and her dedication to inspiring others, Dawes proves why she is affectionately known as “Awesome Dawesome.”