@LindsBrac

I feel the drag about this time every year. It’s in the gunmetal sky, dismal against the trees, shedding all their glory.

Seasonal depression.

Once the cold seeps in, my fingers struggle across the keyboard and it’s all I can do to make myself work on the things that pay the bills—even if they don’t feed my soul. But sometimes, it’s all I can do to create, no matter how starved my heart may feel.

Sometimes I can’t find a single thought that makes sense or feels fresh or combats against the dreary rain, pounding away at my window that’s meant for sunshine.

Creatives usually have these tendencies—toward melancholy, the old days called it. We look deeper, search harder, assign more meaning to a thing than it should have—and find ourselves staving off bad days when darkness comes earlier and temperatures don’t suit the morning walk as well.

Recognizing my own tendency has always been my first step toward joy. Because there is plenty to be found on the days the air is crisp, the leaves are golden on the backdrop of my narrow road, the sky is scuttled blue, clouds whipping by.

Here are three ways I’ve coped with seasonal depression and its inevitable drain on my creativity:

1. Set a goal. Every morning, I aim for 1000 new words on my new baby story. I have a focus. A reason to boost out of bed and let my mind roam far and away from where I currently am.
2. Fix one sane space that makes you feel calm.I work from home, so when my sense of household order disintegrates, it perpetuates my sense of frustration. But if I have one space I can claim, even if I have to reclaim each and every day, a sense of calm and order is infused back into my day.
3. Indulge in seasonal happiness.Just because autumn has faded and Christmas has ended, that doesn’t mean you can’t have your happy. Keep up the twinkle lights. Drink the pumpkin spice. Light the pine-scented candle, or spend your Christmas cash on a pretty new sweatshirt that does double-duty for fashion and function. Last year, my mother-in-law gifted us all thick fuzzy blankets. At first, I was annoyed because of the linen closet space they consumed, but as Georgia finally welcomes winter, I pulled mine out at five in the morning. I curled in my chair with my laptop and orange spice tea to write my 1000 words—and I wasn’t cold. I was happy.

Do you feel your mood shifting with the seasons? How do you find your joy again? I’d love to hear your best tips in the comments!

Lindsey P. Brackett writes southern fiction and cooks big family meals, but she complains about the dishes. Her debut novel, Still Waters, released in 2017 and was named the 2018 Selah Book of the Year. Someday she hopes to balance motherhood and writing full-time. Until then, she’s just very grateful for her public school system.

Connect with Lindsey and get her free newsletter at lindseypbrackett.com. COMING SOON is her Christmas novella, Magnolia Mistletoe, free for newsletter subscribers.