I am not one of those people who deal with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in the winter and that makes it difficult for me to understand people who are affected by it. There are all kinds of advice out there about what one can do to overcome the seasonal depression---meditation, diet, light, and other therapies. I understand different things work for different people and there is not one set answer.
I'm thankful SAD is one problem I've been spared. I don't enjoy the snow like I once did or feel the need to go out and play in it. I'm happy to stay in the warm house and just look at it through the window. Going to fetch the mail is all I care to do out there.
I don't have any sure-fire cures for people who are affected by SAD but I think one of the best antidotes is contained in this quote from Henry David Thoreau: “One must maintain a little bit of Summer even in the middle of Winter.”
Hmmmm. How do I manage that? I can't go on my daily walks or putter around in flower beds. But I scrapbook my pictures from the previous year, and as I work my way through them I relive the memories made during the summer. I have corn in my freezer that was grown in my garden last summer and I remember preserving it on a hot summer day. (The taste of homegrown sweet corn is far above and beyond anything you can buy in the store.) I have live plants in my house and African violets that bloom all winter. That's the first three that came to my mind.
I always have a list of things I want to do in the winter that I don't have time for in other seasons, and it usually passes by rapidly. I'm making progress on this winter's list and am hopeful I can conquer it by the first of March when it will be time to begin shifting into the next season. As long as my hands and eyes do not fail me, I shall never be bored, even in the dead of winter.
Here's a "sugar plum" from last summer for the middle of winter.
Hmmmm. How do I manage that? I can't go on my daily walks or putter around in flower beds. But I scrapbook my pictures from the previous year, and as I work my way through them I relive the memories made during the summer. I have corn in my freezer that was grown in my garden last summer and I remember preserving it on a hot summer day. (The taste of homegrown sweet corn is far above and beyond anything you can buy in the store.) I have live plants in my house and African violets that bloom all winter. That's the first three that came to my mind.
I always have a list of things I want to do in the winter that I don't have time for in other seasons, and it usually passes by rapidly. I'm making progress on this winter's list and am hopeful I can conquer it by the first of March when it will be time to begin shifting into the next season. As long as my hands and eyes do not fail me, I shall never be bored, even in the dead of winter.
Here's a "sugar plum" from last summer for the middle of winter.
1 comment:
The color of these flowers is beautiful! I like all seasons; here in GA, we have 4 distinct seasons, and I think sometimes summer lasts a little too long. Fall and winter here are pretty fleeting.
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