The newspapers say that today is Blue Monday, allegedly the most depressing day of the year. The formula takes a variety of factors into account:
If I still lived in Chicago, I'd probably feel pretty blue right now. It's not the city; it's the SAD. The first year after moving to California, I was shocked by how much lighter I felt during the winter months. Without having to endure frigid temperatures and face-whipping wind tunnels in the Loop, I am in an overall better mood. Don't get me wrong, Chicago's a fine town. But you really understand the unique brutality of its weather only after leaving.
I remember the moment when I decided to leave Chicago. It was around this time a few years ago. I was shaking and shivering underneath multiple blankets; my teeth were chattering and my fingertips were blue. "There are people who don't have to deal with this nonsense," I said to myself. And then it hit me: I could be one of those people. Packed up and moved that spring.
So if today is the most depressing day of the year, it's nice to get it out of the way. I suspect 2010 is hiding harder days up its sleeve, but I feel good about this year. Maybe I feel that way because the end of 2009 was so difficult that things have to get better. Whatever the reason, I have a lot of faith in the year ahead, like the way you feel when you're 17 and you don't know where life's going to take you, but it's exciting enough just to be going.
Edited to add: Perhaps I spoke too soon. Just found out that Carlos Hernandez Gomez died last night. He was 36. I never met him, but hearing his "I'm Carlos Hernandez Gomez" signoff was part of the backing soundtrack to my years in Chicago. Some of my friends counted him as a colleague and friend, and by all accounts he was a great reporter and a good man. So it is indeed a blue Monday after all.
weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year's resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.
If I still lived in Chicago, I'd probably feel pretty blue right now. It's not the city; it's the SAD. The first year after moving to California, I was shocked by how much lighter I felt during the winter months. Without having to endure frigid temperatures and face-whipping wind tunnels in the Loop, I am in an overall better mood. Don't get me wrong, Chicago's a fine town. But you really understand the unique brutality of its weather only after leaving.
I remember the moment when I decided to leave Chicago. It was around this time a few years ago. I was shaking and shivering underneath multiple blankets; my teeth were chattering and my fingertips were blue. "There are people who don't have to deal with this nonsense," I said to myself. And then it hit me: I could be one of those people. Packed up and moved that spring.
So if today is the most depressing day of the year, it's nice to get it out of the way. I suspect 2010 is hiding harder days up its sleeve, but I feel good about this year. Maybe I feel that way because the end of 2009 was so difficult that things have to get better. Whatever the reason, I have a lot of faith in the year ahead, like the way you feel when you're 17 and you don't know where life's going to take you, but it's exciting enough just to be going.
Edited to add: Perhaps I spoke too soon. Just found out that Carlos Hernandez Gomez died last night. He was 36. I never met him, but hearing his "I'm Carlos Hernandez Gomez" signoff was part of the backing soundtrack to my years in Chicago. Some of my friends counted him as a colleague and friend, and by all accounts he was a great reporter and a good man. So it is indeed a blue Monday after all.
Labels: new order
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