Beating the Winter Blahs

In spite of all the horn-tooting and welcoming the new year that happens every January 1st, the first couple months of the year always seem so dreary and colorless, like a two-month hangover after a string of frantic holiday parties. (Of course, that’s a theoretical simile there, seeing how I’ve never had a hangover.) But it needn’t be that way! The first step to beating the winter blahs is to admit that they exist and stop blaming your irritability on things like (and I’ve done this before) “everyone around me is inordinately stupid.”

After that, I find that the most effective way to escape the blahs is to quickly bury myself into one or more all-encompassing interests until March. In the past I’ve done series of books, TV shows on DVD, a video game, or intensive crafty projects. This temporary obsession uses all of the resources of time and energy not already devoted to essential activities (Sundays, Church responsibilities, work/school, a few social obligations, and sometimes eating and sleeping), so I don’t have a minute to spend thinking about how dark and frightful the weather outside is. In choosing a medium of mind burial, I make sure it’s long enough to last me till spring, which always turns my inclination to other things. If it’s a book, I make sure it’s a series (but not too long—to finish Wheel of Time before spring, I’d have to start at the beginning of the previous autumn); if it’s a project, I try to time it so I’ll get it done before Spring fever strikes, or I’ll have project remnants cluttering my space the rest of the year. For me, distraction is a great method for avoiding blah.

This year’s fixations are pretty evenly divided between Kindgom Hearts and a sci-fi TV show my roommate has on DVD. Have no fear, guilt over my own laziness keeps me from spending too much time on either, but it feels nice to bury myself in something frivolous and satisfying once the day’s have-tos are done.

Another thing I’ve been trying this year is to have less hateful thoughts about the weather. As Ryan and Erin dourly observed, Utah is a barren (or it SHOULD be barren), icy, snowy wasteland all winter long and sometimes unfairly far into the spring. This winter has been the snowiest I’ve ever seen in my entire life. But hey! That doesn’t mean I can’t find things I like about it! I try to force the energy of my furious irritation into grateful thoughts. I’m so glad to have not slid to my doom into oncoming traffic. I’m glad that when I scrape frost and snow off my windshield, it removes the thick layer of salt that my ancient windshield wipers can never rub away. I’m glad that a little boy next door shovels our sidewalk, even though it needs shoveling again in half an hour. Most of all, I’m happy to have two roommates and a couple of nice neighbors who will shove my car out into the street when it gets stuck after the latest dump.

Ok, so some of those were less grateful than others. Most of them have to do with driving in the snow, which is the really unfun part, though to be honest I’m getting quite good at it now. But I’ve decided that I can’t do this again. I’ve got to either move to a more New Mexico-oriented climate, work from home, or live close enough to walk to work for future winters. Hey, another thing to be grateful to the snow for: my career aspirations are slightly more defined! Positive thinking works wonders, folks.

I hope this newest post brightens up the family blog. Dunno about you, but new articles always make me happy. Whether or not these anti-blah methods work for you, to all my fellow sufferers, don’t worry: March and green grass and birthdays lie ahead, a golden, glowing orb in the gray continuum of time. Me, I’m going to dig myself a cozy burrow and wait for time’s inexorable march to pull me there.