You know, I hate this time of year.

[davywavy]

Here I am, trying to write a post about being really sluggish at this time of year, and I'm struggling because I get really sluggish at this time of year.

There's a point, usually during the second or third week in january, when I find myself staring glumly out of the window and thinking "Blimey, I forget how badly I get this."
It's the time of year - short days, grey skies, not much sunshine. I go into hibernation mode. Some people try to dress it up as some sort of affliction or syndrome like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or Winter Laziness Syndrome (WLD), but what it comes down to is that I've got untold years of evolution telling me that it's cold and dark and I really out to go and have a lie down. Maybe have a stiff drink, too. That'd be nice.

It's interesting how different people I know react differently to this time of year and how evolutionary heritage seems to play a part. People who I reckon are descended from the Romans seem not really to be bothered by it, but the more northern your heritage the more you slow down and think that curling into a ball and sleeping through the winter is a good idea. Given that I'm a nordic man-god whose ancestors came over here on the Viking equivalent of an 18-30 holiday* and decided going home was just too much like hard work, this means that I really ought to just take January off and have done. Maybe February as well.

I'm not surprised that most northern cultures have invented a fiery spirit with a name which means 'water of life' (Whisky, Akkavit, Vodka...all the same thing); it's this time of year they're designed for.
But other than booze, anyone got any other 'perking yourself up' suggestions?

^{*I've got a vestigial epithelial fold to my eyes, too, which I've always thought suggested that somewhere back in the dim and distant there's an eskimo with an name like Nanook lurking in my ancestry. Or maybe Nell. That'd be more my style.}

Comments

[sherbetsaucers.livejournal.com]

Exercise is an obvious one.

[(Anonymous)]

Light a big fire (to remind the sun not to go out) and sit round it in the evening telling long blood stirring tales of nordic derring-do.

H

[(Anonymous)]

Fly south to where it's nice (get your coat).

D

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

Develop an obsessive short-term project. I'm making myself a most bodaceous piece of wall art.

[belak-krin.livejournal.com]

It turns out that being blasted in the face by fake sunlight actually does work for lots of people (an ebay styled LED light is fine, no need for several hundred pounds of skin-peeling lightbox). I suppose its like heating your lizard brain up on a rock.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

The 'sunrise' alarm clocks also work well, because it means you're not waking up in the dark - no idea whether the even cheaper option of sticking a timer switch on a bedside light so it turns on five minutes before the alarm clock would do a similar thing, or whether it would just mimic a mother flicking a lightswitch to get a reluctant teen out of bed...

[zenicurean.livejournal.com]

You could combine and conquer: Have a two-week drunken revel; you'll get to have a stiff drink or a few hundred, and what's left of January will kind of chuck itself into the bin all on its own in the process.

[gnommi.livejournal.com]

I sleep a lot and generally hit the wine more. Heat helps, light even more so.
My ancestors are from Darzet. Before that I think they crawled out of the sea.
But yes, the urge to hibernate is strong and I think gets stronger every year.

[colliedlight.livejournal.com]

I feel the need to raid.

[song-of-copper.livejournal.com]

Having just returned from North Norway (where the sun has only just begun to reappear above the horizon!), I can vouch for your theory! The natives of Tromso seemed to cope by lighting a lot of candles and finding a warm place in which to drink alcohol. ^_^ I noticed that the people who had migrated there from more southerly parts of Norway seemed more laid-back about life in general.

As for non-booze related coping strategies, I favour lighting a good fire (not too helpful if you don't have a working fireplace, of course... a 2-bar electric heater isn't quite the same!). Other than that, baking, although this is not kind to the N. European waistline!