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January isn’t totally to blame for my winter blues, coming as it does on the heels of December's season of sparkle and joy. I suspect seasonal affective disorder, with its fewer hours of daylight and cold temps, also helps to rank January as my least favorite month. In this first of a two-part series about beating the January blues, I share seven strategies I stumbled across while visiting an old-timey town that gentled a sad spirit. Have a read, and please come back next week for part 2 to see how discovering a 70-year old trunk in my childhood home turned my world around and blew the blues away. 
1. Make New Traditions Before he was ill, I promised dad I'd see him this Christmas. That was not to be. As long as I can remember, Christmas celebrations centered around our parents and my childhood home in Connecticut. But not this year. It was the year our patriarch died, five years following mama's passing. The year I became a baby boomer orphan. The year my siblings and I lost traditional anchors and spun different orbits as our Millennial generation ascended to adulthood, establishing young families and holiday traditions of their own. There have been joys in the past 12 months, but my heart was too heavy for the annual 500-mile holiday trek north to Connecticut. Instead, I looked for new traditions that would lighten a grieving spirit. Editor/Spouse JM and I decided to spend two nights in an historic 1830s inn in Harpers Ferry, WVA, a five-hour drive from our North Carolina home and short hop to JM's Pennsylvania family. 2. Be in the Moment I am always thinking ahead, planning, wondering what comes next, but I activated my off button for 48 hours. Nestled on hills jutting up from the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, Harpers Ferry offered total escape by dint of the region’s geography, history, and sheer beauty. 
Harpers Ferry, WVA, from Jefferson Rock
3. Find Joy in Playful Imagining Designated as an historic site by the National Park Service, it was easy to picture horses and riders clomping down cobblestone streets or hear shots from John Brown’s 1859 raid on the town’s arsenal. And the town’s old-timey cemetery near Jefferson Rock! All those stories to be told there, if you only imagine kind spirits speaking as you walk past their headstones.
Photos: National Park Service, Harpers Ferry National Historic Site, Harpers Ferry, WVA
5. Embrace the Unexpected I planned a few events for our trip and got more ideas from our gracious hosts at the inn, but I didn’t want to structure everything. Sometimes, the best moments come when you're not looking for them….like finding that gentle stretch of the App Trail I could never imagine existed. Or JM photobombing my panotamic selfie on historic Jefferson Rock. 
Jefferson Rock photobomb, Harpers Ferry, WVA
 Olde White House Inn, Harpers Ferry
After long days exploring, we returned to the inn for cider and wine by a cozy fire in the candlelit parlor. I hadn’t taken time to pamper myself in months, but it was just what I needed. Life felt better. Chores and decisions flew off the Overwhelming side of my mental to-do list. Best, I began to find my creative mojo that had been hiding under grief. Writing didn’t feel like climbing Mt. Everest any more. After all, I had walked the App Trail and found joy in new traditions, right? I could do this!
These seven strategies lifted my January funk, and I hope they work for you, too. They helped me clear my mind and reflected on matters I couldn’t take in before ... like the life-changing discoveries from the trunk in dad’s basement. Please come back next week to see how finding old letters and photos in that trunk rocked my world.
Do you get the January Blues? What do you do to stay on top of the blahs in winter or any time? Might any of these seven strategies help you? Please share in the comment section. Catch next week for part 2 on Beating the January Blues Photos: by Cat Michaels Michaels, except where credited
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12 Comments
1/10/2018 12:45:52 pm
Such a beautiful and meaningful post Cat! 1/14/2018 11:42:32 am
Rosie, You would be an awesome walking partner! Good for you for adding staying active to your to-do list this year. 1/10/2018 12:55:53 pm
Great advice! Considering what a rough winter much of the country is experiencing, this is much-needed timely information. So happy you found ways to get your groove back. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience so others can do so as well!
Cat Michaels
1/12/2018 08:59:18 am
Julie, I hit a lucky patch of beautiful winter weather, and everything came together beyond expectation. Fingers crossed January is kind to us, and people find ways to be well mentally and physically at any time of year. 1/12/2018 10:53:59 pm
Thank you so much for sharing some of your strategies to chase those winter blues away, Cat. I also find that the cold temps and lack of daylight hours make me want to stay indoors. I find myself tired, way before bedtime. Your suggestion to keep moving is a strategy that I use to stay positive during the cold months, too. As soon as the temperature is bearable, I love taking my walks outside! Breathing in that fresh air and clearing my mind makes me feel so much better! Bring on spring!!
Cat Michaels
1/13/2018 07:46:23 am
Jill, good for you for keeping moving in the dead of winter! It’s hard to find motivation to get outdoors in the cold, or find daylight after work, but it’s worth the effort to breathe that fresh air. 1/13/2018 11:46:36 pm
Dear Cat, good to read you can find the sunshine in the dampness of your sadness. Finding the time to get out into nature no matter the weather always makes me feel better and I am glad it has helped you too, even though I read you have all been in the grips of a very harsh cold spell to say the least. Keep your chin up and keep walking (and writing) each small step forward is better than a few back. 1/14/2018 11:46:06 am
Thanks for your kind words and company in Harpers Ferry, Sandra. Yep, getting out into nature does have a way of putting life in perspective. Love your outlook for staying positive, even in winter. 1/17/2018 07:34:48 pm
Woo hoo, indeed! Thanks for sharing this adventure and time to relax and unwind. All good pointers that I need to consider doing! 1/23/2018 09:46:49 pm
Aw, lovely having you join me in Harpers Ferry, Carol. Always good to flick the “off” switch every now and then. Sometimes, it takes getting to a quiet physicsl and mental place to make that happen.
Carol Luciano
1/22/2018 03:59:17 pm
A beautiful and helpful post Cat. I actually already read about your finding and going through the trunk. But Winter is always terrible for me . A condition a lot of people experience is Sad. The gray, cold and shorter days causes depression and sadness along with no energy. It's due to lack of sunlight. But to just have dreary winter along with grief is a very burden on the spirit. Everything you posted is great. When I lost my mother at 50 it hit me like a ton of bricks. The grief and reality of her loss was terrible. I still had 3 children home and that helped me cope. To go on when I wanted to lay down and stay there. I wish I saw your list back then. I walked and functioned in a fog for almost one year. Her passing crushed me. My 8 year old just went into remission from bone cancer, my older brother suddenly passed away not even a year before. So I just told myself to give in and cry it out and feel sad. I didn't want to hold it in . Eventually I cried a river and learned to go on. It got easier and easier. I had a lot of help with hubby, older married children and good friends. When Spring hit I felt the change. :) Thank you for sharing these 7 watys to deal 1/23/2018 10:15:47 pm
I’ve heard of SAD, Carol, and believe that causes my winter blues, too. Losing a family member is exactly like being hit by a ton of bricks, and you lost a parent AND a sibling at the same time you had an sick child. I wouldn’t be functioning at all under that grief. Bless your heart! I admire your courage for feeling the pain and working through it. Thanks for sharing your story. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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