Every year I get down about this time - the Christmas lights come down, trees get mulched, decorations get repacked and stored away and the house and world in general go into a winter grey funk. Some people just chalk it up to seasonal affective disorder due to the shorter days and less exposure to sunlight, but I think it's more than that. The holidays get built up and when they're over, we can't help but feel a little let down that they're over - after months of preparations and brightly colored decor, how can you not? I know that Christmas is a big deal but one day and the evening before can hardly live up to all the hype.
I've written before (and am hardly the only one who's done so) about the commercialism of Christmas, but this year I've really started thinking about the significance of this holiday in comparison with others. Sure, the birth of Christ is significant, but isn't Easter really more of what makes Christianity what it is? And Easter falls in the Spring, when it seems it might be easier to do outdoor decorations... but we don't make nearly as big a deal about Easter. Why is that?
Adding to my funk this year, I'm once again left alone while my partner is deployed to serve our country overseas. This makes the 5th time we've gone through this and it was never easy or fun, but it seems harder this time. Perhaps that's because it's been a few years since the last one or perhaps it's because I'm not in school this time around and am not really sure how I'm going to cope. I can only throw myself into work so far and mamy of my friends no longer live close by. I need a diversion - a project or a class or something. Any ideas? I've checked out the schedule at the YMCA but the classes that fit around my work schedule aren't really that interesting to me... the ones I'd like to do are during work hours. Dang it. I'm very open to suggestions...
