weekly report
to combat the winter blues
I’m at my wits’ end.
I thought I could handle this; it hasn’t been too bad. I thought I worked up some sort of tolerance. It went to my head, my big ego ever inflating. And yet, I’m constantly humbled. This time around, it’s when the weather dropped to the single digits.
This California girl is not used to this level of cold. Frigid. Icy. Startling. When people asked me, “But what about the winter?” after I revealed I moved to the East Coast from San Francisco. “I get a whole new wardrobe!” I assured those. But as a thick blanket of snow covered the land and didn’t melt days later, it is frozen into brown masses, and I’m not quite sure I built up a strong enough tolerance as I thought.
So, I’m leaning in to joys and pleasures I can create for myself, indoors, where it’s a delightful sixty-eight degrees.
I bring you my weekly r.e.p.o.r.t. as I combat the winter blues:
R(eading) Despite only adopting this morning, I’m certain to implement this morning routine in my schedule going forward. This morning, I stayed in my pajamas, put on the kettle for a cup of tea, and read my book for half an hour before going to the gym. As I read, the fog of sleep dissipated, and I could feel the cogs in my brain churning. The sun hasn’t risen, so a warmly lit lamp at the side of my reading chair welcomes my day with a slow and intentful morning. I’m nearly finished with my book, Sourdough by Robin Sloan. I had little expectations going into it, and it’s been a delight to read. It’s wacky and fantastical. It also takes place where I grew up, feeding the nostalgia monster in my gut.
E(eating) I always had a qualm with why charcuterie boards were reserved for gatherings, showers, and cocktail hours. I want to have a grazing board whenever I dang please. As an act of free will, I will create an extravagant snack board in lieu of dinner. Wedges of sharp cheeses, briney olives, and buttery crackers. Dollops of hummus and goat cheese, drizzled with honey. Slices of cured meats and segments of carrots, radishes, or celery. Shards of dark chocolate and pieces of plump dried apricots. Curating a personal charcuterie board delights the darkest evenings.
P(laying) No matter the time of year, I like to have a wind-down activity at the end of a work day that doesn’t include scalding my retinas with a screen. In the summer, I paint, sometimes outdoors. In the winter, I knit. It’s a recent addition to my arsenal of hobbies, so I’m challenged more than typical. I tend to stay focused on my project and can sit in silence, simply knitting. However, as I’ve been practicing and reaching points in projects where repetition is imminent, I need something to occupy the scurrying part of my mind. In comes, audiobooks! A delightful pairing of hobbies. Currently playing in my noise-canceling headphones is the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. I am at the second-to-last book, Tower of Dawn. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel because the usual crew of characters is absent in this story, but I’ve been surprisingly delighted by this new perspective. I’m prepared to be absolutely devastated when I finish the series.
O(bsessing) Perhaps I’m dulled by feeling obsessed with everything in my life, so that I’m having trouble thinking of a single thing I’m obsessed with.
R(ecommending) Have an “out of the house” activity. For me, it’s a weekly ceramic sculpture class. There’s a joy in attending a class as an adult and interacting with folks I only see in this one setting. I chat with ladies as we play with clay. We troubleshoot and bounce ideas off one another. I return home feeling refueled. Recently, my project took a tragic turn, and yet with the encouragement from my peers, I adapted. I cannot recommend enough immersing yourself in the community.
T(reating) For Christmas, my husband and I were gifted gorgeous mirrored silverware. It was a set of four, and we incorporated it with our current cutlery, an inexpensive yet durable set my husband has had for over a decade. As we used the new set, we looked at each other with a giddy curiosity and agreed to enter a new era of silverware. It’s completely unnecessary, yet it has elevated our lives as we treat ourselves to such luxurious silverware.
Stay warm out there.
xoxo
Anjelica