Seasonal Light Disorder

Today at the grocery store I picked up a fresh basil plant. I came home, washed my kitchen window, put my new little ray of sunshine on a little plate. I BREATHED in the fresh spring air, the aroma of fresh gardens, sunshine and so much more all in a tiny little pot.

What do you do to help with the dark dreary winter days? When we were stationed in Iceland we put lights on timers to help keep our ‘clocks’ on cycle. As those from Alaska can attest to, winter nights are LONG up by the Arctic circle… in the heart of winter the sun was up for moments, not even hours.

I know some will applaud the use of tanning booths in the winter, just for a little while, nothing to do with skin tone, but more to do with mind-tone. The infusion of light helps. The warmth soaking through to their bones.

For now I’m sticking with my little basil plant. May it live long and prosper. I hope to plant it in my herb garden this summer. Until then I will enjoy the aroma, watch it soak up the sun, and enjoy the beauty in the everyday of winter.

I’ll end on this thought. My very favorite children’s book to read to my boys is Dr. Seuss’s My Many Colored Days. It is a great book! In fact, I’ve read it so often I have it memorized. (The words don’t do its entire job justice as the pictures are infused with vibrant colors in the book.)

Some days are yellow.Some are blue.On different days I’m different too.You’d be surprised how many waysI change on Different Colored Days.
On Bright Red Days how good it feelsto be a horse and kick my heels!
On other days I’m other things. On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings.
Some days, of course, feel sort of Brown.Then I feel slow and low, low down.
Then comes a Yellow Day and Wheeee!I am a busy, buzzy bee.
Gray Day….Everything is gray.I watch. But nothing moves today.
Then all of a sudden I’m a circus seal!On my Orange Days that’s how I feel.
Green Days. Deep deep in the sea. Cool and quiet fish. That’s me.
On Purple Days I’m sad. I groan. I drag my tail. I walk alone.
But when my days are Happy Pink.Its great to jump and just not think.
Then come my Black Days. MAD. And loud.
I howl. I growl at every cloud.
Then comes a Mixed-Up Day. And WHAM!
I don’t know who or what I am!
But it all turns out all right, you see.
And I go back to being … Me.

My point with all that? We all have gray days. We all have happy days. Some of us are more affected by things around, the weather, the seasons even the moods of others have a huge impact on us. However, we can all weather this ‘storm’! I hope you can find something today to turn your grey day to an orange day! [Or perhaps a Spring-Infused Basil Plant day! :)]