Post Holiday Blahs

Thanksgiving through New Years is a whirlwind of shopping, wrapping, decorating, arranging and socializing. For the religious there are also services filled with meaning and reflections.

January and February can be so blah after all that busyness. It's cold and snowy in Ohio. The day is mostly gray and light, when it's there, is filtered through clouds and reflected off snowfall. It's just not inspiring.

In fact, there are seasons for a reason. In temperate zones, like the Midwest, fields are fallow in winter. They receive moisture as snow, sleet and rain and they rest. In spring, the earth blooms because of the rest during winter.

It's not a great stretch to imagine that human beings could benefit from a season of rest. After the winter holidays seems a good time for that. Do things, but make them small scale and simple to contrast with the over-the-top November-December holidays.

For example:

• Invite a friend to lunch. Get caught up with each other.
• Find your old knitting project and work on it.
• Fill up the photo albums you bought years ago.
• Play cards with your kids.
• Bake something with your kids.
• Plan a golf outing for April or May.
• Watch old movies and eat popcorn.
• Read good books. Go to the library — it's free.
• Plant seeds. Watch them grow. Spring is coming.

There are big times and there are small times: January and February don't have to be blah. They can be times of quiet enjoyment in small, simple and meaningful ways.

Barbara A. Buchanan, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist