Seasonal Affective Disorder (& Christmas)

My mother, a social worker, tells me that this is one of those diagnostics people invented to explain a perfectly normal behavior and it has since spread like an epidemic in the minds of the general population. Think of it like Hallmark invented holidays.


I, on the other hand, believe it exists fully, rationally and completely and I, like many other summer-loving-people, suffer dramatically from S.A.D. Of course, I know very few people who don’t endure the “winter blues” – and the only people I know who really LOVE winter are those ski/snowboard fanatics. I ski, I snowboard – I just prefer to live in an endless summer.

So winter is constantly a game of making the best of it. Luckily this year, that’s been pretty easy.


My family is wonderful. We spend warmer afternoons taking the dogs ice skating (or ice-walking at least, on the really melty days) or curled up in front of the TV with a netflix we delivered to our door. I mean, how hard can life get?



Christmas was fantastic. Morning meant delicious a delicious breakfast and hours around the tree with my mother, father, brother and two pups. We just know how to have a good time…




That afternoon the whole family got together and actually got along (always a plus!), and with free flowing delicious wine and a well-thought-out gift exchange, the evening passed exceptionally well.




And it is with great shock, a “real” job, a new appreciation of the French language and no apartment of my own that I prepare to ring in the New Year… How different things were only twelve months ago…