The Long Gray
The Long Gray
by Meagan Good, MA, LPC; Founder of Take Heart
February 1, 2024
Winter just seems to have endless gray skies. Once in a while you get a hint of blue, where the sun shines and the world seems bright again, but these moments are fleeting. Even in those sunny moments, the air is cold and damp, the ground is soggy with mud, the trees are bare… even the animals seem to brace themselves. Everyone you meet comments about the conditions – we all feel it. I’ve found myself calling it “The Long Gray” in my head.
For many of us, The Long Gray can seriously impact our mental health. It creeps in slowly – it might not affect you in a day – but the continuous cloudy conditions can cause symptoms of sluggishness, sadness, depression, frustration, isolating, hunkering down… our instinct is to slow down and hibernate in a sense, but in our fast-paced world, that instinct is not really valued. And so it can bring up negative feelings. It can lead to seasonal depression. It can trigger old stuff. It’s not even our fault – we are designed to need fresh air and sunshine and grass under our feet – and The Long Gray makes getting outside for all of that a lot less appealing.
If this sounds familiar… I want you to know you’re not alone. I want to normalize The Long Gray for you. We all feel it to different degrees.
Give yourself permission to slow down. I think the seasons are meant to guide the pace of our lives with a yearly rhythm. Winter is when the earth rests, so why shouldn’t we follow that rhythm?
At the same time, I encourage you not to withdraw completely. Sometimes the temptation to isolate, quit activities that nurture our physical or social wellbeing, sleep winter away, or check out and watch too much TV gets the best of us. You’re allowed to have hibernation days! But we are not designed to actually hibernate through winter. Rather, I would invite you to ask yourself – what would be kindest for me today?
Maybe it’s baking or cooking. Maybe it’s music or art. Maybe it’s going for a walk somewhere with a view, or getting back to the gym. Maybe it’s spending time with your loved ones or pets. Maybe it’s asking that friend to go get coffee. Maybe it’s looking for volunteer opportunities that excite you. Maybe it’s cleaning that drawer or closet that got out of hand. Maybe it’s sitting with your calendar and scheduling self-care time or carving out blocks of time to work towards your goals. Maybe it’s finally scheduling a doctor or therapy appointment to take care of yourself.
If we let it, The Long Gray can overwhelm us. I often think of my first flight. It was a gross, cold, wet, foggy, dark day, ironically during The Long Gray that year. Sitting in the window seat, I was bummed that it was so dark and that I wouldn’t get to see anything. But once the plane took off and we got above the clouds – it was like someone turned the lights on! It was so bright and sunny, with the rays of sun bouncing off the tops of the clouds, like we had literally entered another universe. It somehow had never occurred to me until this moment that even when our perspective on the ground is dark and wet, the sun never stops shining. We just can’t see the whole picture.
Even when The Long Gray feels so. darn. long. … the sun has never stopped shining. It’s just a bit outside of our view from down here on the ground. This encourages me when I feel like hibernating to shut out The Long Gray. The sun is still shining above these clouds. It will shine again. Oh yes, I take a few hibernation days and catch up on my sleep and favorite movies! But it encourages me to also treat myself with active self-care and kindness as well. Baking, cooking, and slow, restorative stretching has been my self-care so far this winter, and it’s helping me get through The Long Gray.
What is your self-care lately? What would be kindest for you?
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