Dealing with a dip in creative energy
This illustration by Gemma Correll could be a portrait of me in winter. By the end of Feburary it is most definitely me. Every year I struggle with this season. Sometimes I’m lucky and I only get the winter blues, but sometimes, like this year, things turn out differently and life gets really tricky. I am a greyscale version of myself, and the energy and enthusiasm for life that I have in spring and summer disappear with the daylight. It takes all my energy to look normal. I get frustrated and angry at myself for not managing to cope, for finding things hard when it seems like there’s no reason to feel so bad. This year’s extreme symptoms have led me to realise that I shouldn’t battle with myself like this. It does me no good to admonish myself; I need to be kinder and work with myself to find my own way through. So, armed with a SAD lamp that is retina-burning bright, and a will to do things differently this time, I’m going to share with you my plans for the dark months. Now, you may not struggle with the change in the seasons, but I’m guessing that everyone has times in the year when their mental health takes a bit of a dip and as a result their creative energy suffers. This post is for those times.