How to Avoid the Winter Blues
Maura Johnson
Have you felt unproductive or a little down recently? As winter approaches and daylight lessens, certain emotions and feelings might start to bubble up. The winter blues are those anxious, sorrowful, unmotivated emotions that come around in the cold and darker months of the year. When we start to have these feelings, they make us want to cancel plans and stay in bed. This time can be a major struggle for some people. Our lives get cloudy and dreary in these months. While the stress of the holidays linger and the weather changes, we tend to feel lost. The winter blues are a put down, however there are many things you can do to make these slow-moving months more bearable and enjoyable for yourself!
Although these months have cold weather, earlier sunsets, and icy roads, they also contain the seasonal holidays. The holidays create a more serene and calm atmosphere that could warm up this frosty time of the year. Just the anticipation of them can brighten your day! The holidays bring special seasonal things like movies, foods, traditions and even more. They also bring along fun activities to get your holiday spirit up. Some activities that people seem to love around this time of the year are: ice skating, Christmas shopping, making hot cocoa, and building a snowman. North Hills student, Jack Martin, explains that his way of getting over the winter blues is to prepare for Christmas and watch his favorite holiday movie, It’s A Wonderful Life. The holiday season can give you a little boost of happiness in this time of stress. Looking forward to the holidays and these activities can help push those winter blues away. The company of the people closest to you can definitely do a lot as well. Furthermore, doing all of this with family and friends can also help keep the seasonal fun! The simple company of friends, family or someone you’re close to can help take away that cloud over your head. Sometimes just being around a loved one can make you feel better. North Hills student, Zoe Dittman, says that getting cozy with friends and baking warms up her colder season. It’s seen all around us that when the winter blues come for us, we like to warm and brighten up each other’s winter!
The case of the winter blues can be hard to get over, but you’re not alone. Almost everyone catches them sooner or later. However, trying to find the fun in the cold by yourself or with your loved ones can help. Make the best out of the freezing air and frost outside. Take the opportunity to make some memories for yourself. Once you look back at them, those winter blues won’t be a part of them and they’ll be long gone!
