It's that time of year. The realization that summer's really, truly over has sunk in, the weather, if you HAVE weather in your part of the world, is turning chilly. School schedules and work schedules are busy, practices are plentiful and deadlines inevitable. There aren't any real big breaks in the routine for another two months, give or take, and the days are getting shorter.
Get ready for the beauty of fall, the fun of hunkering down for winter and, for many of us, the nameless woe. It's a sort of malaise that sets in around mid-October when we begin to feel uneasy about things; perhaps a bit panicky, trapped, almost as if we may be suffocating, verging on a mild anxiety attack. It means we realize we're really "in it" again, another go 'round, another carousel year, up and down, around and around, with no illusion of getting off at all at least until the holidays.
While you're not really depressed, you're having moments of despair you haven't felt for months. It's all part of the autumn and part of being a responsible adult. Summer gives us the feeling that maybe we can or have escaped, at least for a little while, and the darkness and chilly weather can bring our responsibilities tumbling right back down on our heads.
Don't get me wrong; I am a seasonally adoring person, that is, I adore the changing seasons, the dynamism of the weather, the rainy days, the arctic chill. Yet I, too, experience the nameless woe, the wordless dread of homework for the children night after endless night.
So how can we lighten up during this time of year and turn that frown upside down? Well actually, light itself is part of the solution. As many people know, Seasonal Affective Disorder, aptly known as SAD is caused by a lack of sunlight during the darker months of the year. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195
Exercise and continuing to eat well even when the cold causes us to want to much on nothing but pizza and cookies can also improve our outlook, self image and feeling of buoyancy and well being.
Talking about your feelings with friends and sometimes just having a good cry, cuddling up with a good book or movie, or taking a "mental health day" are all wonderful ways of nurturing yourself back to a state of peaceful equilibrium. All in all, to be aware of the changing seasons and to work toward a happy medium in the beginning of the dark time of year will be helpful as leaves, temperatures and moods continue to fall.
Staying positive and getting enough rest are crucial!
Aimee Boyle is a freelance writer and mom of two great kids in CT. Her husband is a reef tank hobbyist and creates underwater seascapes in his spare time.