2022 & January Blues

(This was taken during the Polar Vortex in Jan 2019, a barge ship had to plow through all of the ice in the river to begin the melting process!)

January in Chicago is quiiiiiite chilly. While photos show a beautiful winter wonderland, fit with a frozen river and chunks of ice that form amazing geometric patterns, and snow-fallen streets with twinkly lights, it ain't always that pretty. In fact, it actually is rarely like that.

The sun rises at 7am and sets at 4:30pm as I sit at my kitchen countertop, switching views from laptop screen, to monitor, to coffee cup. If you do manage to emerge into the outdoors during daylight, there is wind, it truly feels like it will rip your eyelashes off. Suddenly, you begin to love wearing a face mask? (for warmth!), and really the only thing you have an appetite for is a hot latte, a hearty chili, or soup with a ton of bread.

(This was taken during a snowstorm last January, and I was determined to find fun in the snow. So I bundled up, took my camera out, got a coffee, and starting snapping away. It lasted maybe half hour after I became wet and cold, but still fun in the moment.)

I am entering my fourth winter here and it hasn’t gotten easier. For me, the post-holiday slump has fed right into a classic case of the January Blues, the kind of down feeling that comes around after the excitement of the holidays has ended, and winter has crept up on you.

Urban Dictionary defines it as “...the funk that you enter when the holiday season is over. It starts on January 2nd and lasts at least until February 1st, sometimes until President's Day. It is an unpleasant time because the holiday season is over, spring is a ways off, the weather is cold and the only movies are lousy January movies. Super Bowl Sunday can be a good cure for this condition.”

Personally I don’t think Buffalo Chicken Dip and a football game is a good cure for anything, but hey, to each their own.

If you happen to feel the same way that I do, and feel like you may have exhausted your options to cure your blues, this Vogue Article on January Blues has some great tips to beat those feelings.

One of the ways I am currently trying to beat the onset of the January Blues is through cooking, like this delicious Vegetable Curry that I made last week. It was the most delicious comfort meal, with spices that warmed you and colorful veggies (that made for a great Instagram pic!).

I love to explore in the kitchen, and this is definitely something I am planning to write more about in the future. Cooking to me is creativity. I use recipes as guardrails for creation, and sometimes that results in something amazing, like my curry above, and sometimes you eat cereal for dinner! I think the endless options of cooking and the excitement of trying something new is the best cure for feeling kinda down in this chilly month of the year.

Another way of beating the blues that has worked for me in the past few weeks, is focusing on my New Year’s resolutions. For me, I am looking to intently focus on my health this year.

As a 20-something, it is easy to take your health for granted, with late nights of drinking or functioning without much sleep. After a few health scares of my own in the past few years, it’s become crystal clear that I need to prioritize my health above all else. I am setting goals to do this through exercise and physical therapy for my physical health, as well as journaling and blogging for my mental health.

Life in the Windy City may be cold and lack-luster right now, but I am determined to kick these January Blues in the butt. I encourage anyone who has a case of the blues to lean into what brings you joy, it could be small or seemingly insignificant. Whatever those small moments of joy that life brings you, dig deep into those and hold onto them (and soon enough, the snow will melt and the sun will shine a little longer).

Thank you for reading and please let me know in the comments if you feel the same way/what things you do to beat the January Blues!

-M