Winter Darkness, Winter Malaise

 

Depressed? Seasonal or chronic? Both?

I’m seasonal. Cranky…irritable…overly sensitive…overly critical….overly snarky….
And I’ve got the slows. Like I’m wading through mashed potatoes. My brain is tired of thinking and I don’t want to do anything but drink coffee, eat cookies and chocolate until these symptoms disappear.

The world over, this is why in so many cultures, ‘the ancients’ invented a holiday to coincide with the dark cold days of winter. Call it what you will…

Were I to respond to the desires of my earthly body and ethereal spirit, I’d settle myself down for this long winter’s nap. I’d stop nagging on myself to get more things done, stop scolding myself for all I have not done, or done badly. I’d swath myself in flannel and get under a quilt.

And eat cookies.

In the Modern Era (ever wonder just how long the ‘Modern Era’ will last? and what we’ll call the next one?) we feed this Winter Malaise by engaging in online seasonal Retail Therapy on Amazon. Or if the weather’s not too frightful, we bump into strangers crowding the shopping malls looking for sparkly things to give to loved (and not-so-loved) ones.

And then we all fall into the longest sleep, dream in the darkness of winter and marvel at the mysteries within.

Resistance is Futile

And why should I resist? The sun in the Northern Hemisphere is approaching its solstice position on the horizon. About as low-down south as you can get. Minimal daylight hours; darkness falls before suppertime. I fall with it.

The Winter Solstice is upon us. Me. I feel its weight, dragging me slowly down into darkness, where all my stories, memories, my dreams and imagination reside. From here I will tell my tales in a new year, evoking the mysteries of the Universe that flows through us all.

I’m gone with it.