November 04, 2020

Halloween, time change, shorter days, colder weather. There is much that is fun this time of year: neighborhoods become festive with Halloween decorations, the air is crisp (when it isn’t foggy), and there are even some fallen leaves dancing in the streets. Chocolate and Pumpkin Spice are featured in stores and restaurants. And grown people get to put on costumes and be little kids again.

It’s also a time often associated with depression. Shorter days mean less sunlight and more isolating darkness. Colder and rainier weather can mean less time outdoors and make it harder to stay active. And two months of non-stop commercial holiday cheer can be the opposite of happy-making; it can feel like everyone is having a splendid, care-free, holiday season except you.

Sound grim? It can be. I’m certainly feeling the slide into November and the challenge of keeping up a jolly attitude. Even writing this blog, which is a real pleasure for me, has felt like a chore as I reach for happy and interesting things to write about. It’s a bit like the color gets turned off in the world, and everything goes gray. Here are a few suggestions I’ve found helpful for keeping the color alive and the gray at bay.

1. Keep color in your daytime: put on a bright colored sweater (or shirt or jewelry or whatever), eat bright-colored food (never noticed the color of orange juice before? Notice it now!), enjoy bright colored cut flowers on the table (lots of sunflowers in the supermarkets right now).

2. Keep color in your nighttime: fun and beautiful lighting can make evening lovely instead of drear. String up Christmas lights in the TV room, light candles at dinner, turn on seasonal decorations like silly jack-o-lanterns or snowmen. Go walking at night if you can and enjoy your neighbors holiday lights.

3. Keep color in your heart: it may seem trite to say so, but count your blessings. Look for what is good and positive around you (hey, you’re reading this blog! Which means the Senior Center is a part of your life. Chalk that up as one positive). Stay in touch with your friends. Find a way to play music, practice your sport, write poetry, tinker with your car, or whatever it is you do that pulls you out of the doldrums. Heck, watch a funny cat video.

It is absolutely human to feel sad or depressed or lonely, under any circumstances. And it should come as no surprise that the waning months of a pandemic year might amplify pain and mute joy. Now is the time to actively look for the color, for the joy, out there. Maybe it’s a call to a friend, a socially-distanced backyard visit, or reaching out to the Senior Center for resources. It could be a walk around the block on a bright day. Or turning to your favorite Cat Video with a glass of orange juice in hand. Cheers!