Yesterday was what might be called a "miserable day" in our area of North Carolina; a gray, rainy, chilled-to-the-bone Saturday that could make you pull up the covers and stay in bed. Some areas of the country were blanketed in bright white snow, which while posing more road hazards and threatening electricity outages, can brighten your mood in its winter beauty. Even the area with the least appeal is transformed when covered in the soft mounds like cotton balls. While last year we hoped for the quiet magic of a winter snow, it was a season of gray precipitation with no anticipation of cozy days at home looking out on a Christmas card-like neighborhood.
For some folks, the grayness of winter goes beyond being their "least favorite time of year"; it's a time when their mood is greatly impacted. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a "form of depression triggered by changes in daylight and weather that occur primarily in the fall and winter." https://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/treatment/ways-to-ease-seasonal-depression/ There are many good resources for information, including this article "14 Ways to Ease Seasonal Depression" that is very readable and thorough.
My goal here is not to try to define this or to offer any advice; while I used to work in mental health, that was many years ago and developments have been made since then. What I do know is Depression--in all forms, is very treatable; I hope that anyone who is experiencing it will get the help that's needed. And even if you don't deal with having depression that's worse in the fall and winter, I think many of us feel a let down after the holiday season as we face the ordinary time of the winter months.
I remember as a girl, I found it so hard to return to school in January after our Christmas break. There was nothing to look forward to except my older sister, Harriet's birthday mid-January. Her day offered a time of celebration--even though back then, we didn't make as big of a deal over birthdays as we do now. It was the promise of a tasty birthday cake and a time of family and friends, gathering or going out.
Now, my older son, Brooks has a February birthday and the warmth of that family celebration brings a bright spot to my calendar. I think given the color and mood of winter, birthday celebrations may be heightened because they're not competing with a time of year when nature is bursting forth in a dazzling palette; instead, there's a monochrome of gray as a backdrop. It always makes me happy to walk down the party goods aisle, looking at the cheerful colors of candles, napkins, and plates. Maybe if I didn't have birthdays this time of year, I would create one just to get in that mood and brighten winter.
In the "14 Ways" article, the authors Orenstein and Pugle talk about the importance of getting out in the sunlight, and how nature has its own beauty in winter. It takes effort and lots of layers to get outside when it's really cold--and maybe more so as we grow older. But there's no denying the body's renewal, physically and emotionally, from time in the sun, fresh air, moving underneath a blue-sky dome. I especially like that when the trees are without leaves, you can see their silhouettes which are especially striking near sunset.
Back in late December of 2000, our family went to D.C. for a few days during the winter school break. I've been to that area many times, but never between Christmas and New Year's. It was terribly cold and the Potomac River dampness made it more so. Not only did we have fewer tourists to navigate, we could see the monuments so much better without the leaves on the trees. The winter sky was a spectacular backdrop for those distinctive structures as well as the old established bare trees. Another perk was the hotel had a low occupancy and they offered us a penthouse without an uncharge--and it happened to be the Watergate Hotel! Being outside and taking a trip during this time can both lift our moods--even if our destination isn't a tropical paradise.
One of the things unique to winter, is being pulled toward textiles that have a warm and soothing texture---whether it's the clothes you wear or materials used in creative projects. It's the time of year I'm drawn to doing needlecraft---now crewel embroidery and in the past, knitting. I'm most likely to sit and work on my project during the dark nights that come so early versus other times when there's more daylight and I want to be outside. Growing up, I remember having more clothes made of corduroy and how good I felt wearing them. Mama used to often refer to fleece and snuggly jackets as being "cozy" and when I touch corduroy, that's the feeling I get. If we didn't have the cold of winter, we wouldn't need those cozy clothes or spend an evening doing needlework in front of the fire.
Last week when I walked at the Hunter St. Park, I saw several forsythia bushes threatening to go ahead and show off with their yellow blooms. Part of me liked seeing this reminder that spring would come before I knew it, and those bushes would naturally bloom here by the end of February-first of March. But part of me thought, Just wait; enjoy the beauty that is winter before jumping ahead to spring.
Maybe my challenge, our challenge, is to stay present with winter, seeing the gifts it has to offer in the quietness of the short days and long dark nights. And maybe part of that challenge is to reach out to one another and offer encouragement by walking together in the sunshine, layered up and laughing, as we work to stay out of the blues, feeding our souls with light.
Blessings to you on the January days ahead.
Connie
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