A while back I read about a study where people were asked to describe a place they find relaxing and calming. A large majority mentioned somewhere involving
water - a river, a lake, the sea and so on. The people behind the study theories that it may be because our ancestors, at some point in time, used to live by the sea. I don't know if that's true or not, but I agree that there is something very calming about being by water.
Throw in a sunset and the image is complete. It gets me every time - if I'm away from the city and the sun is just touching the horizon... wow, its pretty amazing. The world goes silent and still, and I tend to go all philosophical and have a strange calm and content feeling inside. All of life's issues fade away, and I know that everything will be just fine. Of course then minutes later the sun sets and I'm back into the cynical real life, but there's a brief special moment when everything is just... calm. Is there anything better then sitting by the sea watching the sun set over the mountains?
Am I just a sucker for nature, or are things like this built into us?