Beat the Blizzard Blues

I've heard it called everything from "the Comeback Season" and the "Holiday Hibernate" to the "Winter Lay-up". Whatever you choose to call it, it all means the same thing...that another Winter season has arrived and you've yet to find that special someone to clinck cocoa mugs with and watch movies you've seen a thousand times all while snuggled up under the fuzzy electric blanket your parents gave you when you went away to college.

Something about the winter time tends to evoke a feeling of wanting to be connected to someone. It's as if you begin to take more notice of your single status and somehow the excitement and empowerment of being single seems to pack up and head south for the Winter. It's certainly no help that this is also the season where there seems to be an on-slaught of back to back holiday events. Between Sweetest Day, the various Religious holidays, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, the inevitable parties your friends will host, along with those obligatory corporate functions, you're bound to get asked that dreadful question: " Are you bringing anybody?"

For some of you, going it alone is not that big of a deal. But for those of you who tend to feel sad about your single status around this time, you should know that you're not alone. Even the most self-assured, accomplished woman may experience the occassional period of lonliness or desire to be with someone special. Notice I said, "the occassional period". Although sadness is a valid emotion, it's important not to plant yourself down and grow roots in it!

However, if you feel like your level of sadness is too intense to shake off, then you may be experiencing a form of depression. Depression can range from minor to major and can be consistent or reoccurring as with Seasonal Affective Disorder. In any case, if you can't shake it off or if it affects your ability to complete your normal daily routine, then I recommend you seek professional counseling to help get you back on track.

But if it's not that deep and you can still find humor in the "pity party for one" that you insist on throwing yourself this time each year, then I've got a few tips to help you conquer that Blizzard Blues and reaffirm your Stunning Single Status:

1. There's Strength in Numbers!- If you're not quite ready to go it alone, then make a Winter pact with your best girlfriends to be each other's "dates" to this season's holiday events. I suggest you decide in advance which events you'll attend and which girlfriend will accompany you. This way it's on both your calendars and there's no potential to get stood up!
2. Pamper Yourself!- Develop a weekly Winter ritual that's sure to make "staying in", a rejuvenating experience. Spruce up your bath with some aromatherapy products, invest in a canister of Godiva Hot Cocoa, light a few candles and Voila! Instant cozy getaway for one.
3. Party Over Here!- If being around people refuels your energy level, then throw a little shin-dig of your own. Pack the menu with the ulimate in tasty comfort foods and fill the guest list with all your other single girlfriends who could use some reaffirming too!
4. Reading is FUNdaMENTAL!- Use this time to feed your brain with an interesting autobiography, some funny fiction or a trashy romance novel. I know it sounds boring but when the brain is engaged in reading it's very difficult to continue wallowing in your own circumstances.
5. Go Kick It!- The fact of the matter is, you're single NOT dead!! So don't stop socializing just because you don't have a date. Besides, the odds of Mr. Right coming to knock directly on your door while you're wrapped up in your "nobody should ever see this" moo-moo, are slim to none. So grab your best "I look good and I know it!" outfit and go strut your stuff girl!

Welcome!

So okay...I'm a shrink with a passion for engaging others in meaningful conversation and introspection for the purpose of learning and self-acceptance. We're all works in progress either blissfully billowing through life or being dreadfully dragged through each day...Or maybe you're somewhere in between. Wherever you are, this blogspot is designed to reaffirm that: 1) Nobody's perfect, 2) How you feel is valid and 3) You don't have to keep curling up with your "baggage" at night anymore...It's time for you to whittle it down, drop it off, reflect on your life, learn from your life and bask in all the perfectly imperfect shining glory that is YOU!

Now please understand, this is not meant to be counseling by any stretch of the imagination as the counseling process is much more indepth. But you can think of this as sidewalk, common sense commentary for the therapeutically opposed....Enjoy!