One of the advantages to living in the area that I do is that winter comes in late and leaves early. I have always been slightly skeptical of people who claim that they suffer from SAD, a clever little acronym made up of the following words: Seasonal Affective Disorder. This "disorder" is basically just cabin fever; the frustration and depression that people feel during the winter months. The days are shorter and darker, the weather is cold and unforgiving, and people tend to gain weight because there's nothing to do but sit curled up in a blanket with some comfort food. Married couples also tend to have a lot of children with birthdays in the fall.
Lots of people go through this, myself included. I know that it happens, but in my opinion, claiming to have an actual disorder is just going to perpetuate the depression - "I'm so sad and depressed that I must have a disorder, which makes me even sadder and more depressed." The people who don't claim to have this "disorder" are either winter people (who I really don't understand), or people like me. I get through the winter by thinking about what always comes after it: spring. Summer is my favorite season, but spring is the season that makes you believe in summer. Once the days start getting longer, once the weather starts to turn, I can believe that summer is coming. Not only that, but spring is a pleasant in-between season. The plants start to wake up and remember that they're alive and they're supposed to flower and be green. Spring is a season of recovery. The natural cycle of life is visible everywhere - animals are having their babies, fruit trees blossom - a brief sort of spring formal for them.
The days are warming up. It was sixty-two degrees yesterday, and today it might get up to seventy. The sun doesn't seem so cold and distant anymore. The dreaded winter coat takes up long-term residence in the closet. Scraping ice from the windows of your car becomes a memory, as does shivering in the driver's seat while waiting for the hot air to come out of the heater. Wearing sandals becomes possible. Leaving home with a light jacket or no jacket at all - a thing of beauty. Anticipating the re-opening of the apartment swimming pool. The sublime experience of lingering outside, motionless, eyes closed and basking in the sun. This is the kind of season that gives me hope for the future. However dismal things may seem during the winter, the simple yet subtle boost that warmer weather gives me is amazing. For any of you who may still be trapped in the seasonal depression known more commonly as "winter," feel free to breeze on down. We can enjoy it together.
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