On days like today, when we’re draped in a gray, biting cold, it’s no wonder we feel like delivering a roundhouse kick to wintry blues. The sludge and muck builds up outside our doors and somehow it’s an excuse to let the same happen inside. Even if you’re generally imperceptible to winter’s harsh ways, it’s not unlikely you’ll find yourself in various stages of disarray – overindulging in the quick comforts of certain things while ignoring the sort of self-care you could actually use for your seasonal blues. Time to think. To rest, really, without the distractions of beeping messages or flashing screens.
But to seek guidance in your mild melancholia means getting burned by a scouring set of tips and tricks for “beating“, “kicking”, or “fighting off“ the mid-winter blues. This is winter, friends, not an armed assailant. We’re not facing a lethal army, only some added sluggishness and a greater appetite for bad TV and chocolates. Of course, some of us do develop a more debilitating reaction to the season’s shortened days, and a prescriptive plan for countering it is actually a good idea. But if it’s simply winter weariness, hold off on your arsenal of quick fixes. Just for now.
Buying flowers for yourself is a treat any time, and being active outdoors gives you a boost no matter what season it is. Playing your favorite mid-90s R&B dance jams can brighten up any day. Ditto for vacations, delicious and healthy food, and time with friends and loved ones. These are not tricks for beating wintry gloom, these are simple tips for keeping a healthy mind, year-round.
I wonder if there’s actually an advantage to letting ourselves experience the quietude and deepening shades of these few months. To use it as a time for attending to the clutter lying indoors or in our heads, the sludge we’ve let build up unknowingly or actively put off. Even, to indulge the mini-energy crisis rather than taking the Joan Rivers approach, lathering product on top of product and pumping in quick injections in hopes of erasing it all. Winter sadness, in mild form, is a natural response to the season. It’s not a problem necessarily in need of a fix, but it’s also not an excuse to let our work, relationships, or personal care suffer.
However you choose to look at the various shades of blue we all experience this time of year, let it be a reminder of how to take care during any kind of sadness. What’s helpful and restorative now will be helpful during a breakup, after a bad day at work, or anytime life sends us a package of the blues. Fighting something requires a lot of energy. And you’re going to need that come spring.
photograph by Ann He [via]
