Fall is my favorite season. I love being chilly, wrapping up in a sweater, sitting by a campfire. I love overcast days and brightly colored leaves, the crisp crunch underfoot when I go for a walk — while shivering a bit.
But as the colors fade and the sun sets earlier and earlier, I often find myself struggling — with motivation, with outlook, with remembering that everything is temporary and the dark won’t last forever.
The Daylight is Slipping Away
Just look at the data. On June 21 (the longest day of the year), we here in St. Louis had 14 hours, 44 minutes, and 14 seconds of daylight. Since then, we’ve been chipping away at those brightly lit hours a little at a time.
By November 6 (when we “fall back”), we’re down to just 10 hours, 25 minutes, and 9 seconds, and the sun will set just before 5 pm. The slow erosion of our daylight hours will continue until December 21 (the shortest day of the year), when the sun sets at 4:44 pm, and we get just 9 hours, 30 minutes, and 56 seconds of daylight.
Do the Dark Days Get You Down?
I don’t have an official diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and I’m not writing to give you medical advice. (If you’re struggling with depression — as winter approaches or any time, please, please, please reach out to your doctor. There’s help out there!)
But I do have some tips that have worked for me to make the weariness of the waning daylight a little more bearable.
- Try some light therapy- I was skeptical of the impact that a little glowing rectangle could have on my definitive grumpiness, but I sat in front of it anyway because . . . what could it hurt? I will say that I felt a marked increase in mood. These are easily available, small, and able to be tucked away when you can get your light fix the old-fashioned way, and fairly affordable.
- Get winter gear– It’s not just the shorter days that drive us indoors this time of year. It’s also the dropping temperatures. You might roll your eyes when you hear, “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes,” but there’s a lot of truth to it. Here in St. Louis, we rarely get truly unbearable dips in temperature, so with the right winter gear, we can still get out and grab those slivers of sunlight while we can.
- Tend to some indoor plants- It might be looking dreary and drab outside, but you can bring some cheery greenery indoors with houseplants that will help remind you that things won’t always be so dormant.
- Celebrate the Solstice- December 21 is the shortest day of the year, which means every day after that gets a little bit longer. Use this marker as a finish line of sorts and plan a celebration that you can use to lift your spirits along the way. The Winter Solstice is celebrated around the world, and you can find traditions that work for you and your family.
