Fighting Seasonal Depression

“Man, I’m so sick of winter. I think I’m getting seasonally depressed.”

“Yeah? Have you tried yoga?”

“Yoga? Obviously. I’ve done almost the whole list this winter: Yoga, Ben and Jerry’s, snuggly blankets, walks in the snow, meditation, black tea, green tea, herbal tea, fermented tea, fermented other things; I’ve read books, read plays, stopped reading before bed, re-started reading before bed; I’ve tried eating healthy, eating pizza, cooking, impulse ordering, impulse donating to thrift stores; I bought new neon shoe laces, wool socks, those mittens that flip up so you can use your fingers; I started doing the High Impact Interval Training thing, continued ellipticalling and have taken up taking naps…”

“And nothing’s working?”

“…And then there were the Kind Bars, dive bars, water polo, and Rogers and Hammerstein soundtracks; I shredded documents, learned to cook perfect turkey bacon, listened to hours of NPR; I’ve taken long showers, worn long underwear, ingested eight glasses of water a day–minimum; I’ve tried sweating, making lists, reorganized my desk, swearing off facebook, finishing leftovers, and setting achievable goals.”

“That it?”

“Candles. And Greek yogurt.”

“Of course.”

“So much Greek yogurt.”

“So. What’s next?”

“Spring, I guess.”