Ben, Jerry & Seasonal Depression

It's cold. Yet nothing warms up my insides quite like a nice pint of Ben & Jerry's icecream—especially if it's half baked.

The days are short now and the early darkness and bitter temperatures are taking a toll on my state of mind. Seasonal depression is all too real and it sometimes feels like your trapped inside your head.

With the sun disappearing by 5pm, there's nothing much left to do when I get home but curl up on the couch and sadly switch through channels on tv. Today, I decided to invite my two favorite men (Ben & Jerry) and wrap myself up in a chunky knit blanket.

A lot of people don't know what it's like to have your mood and perceptions affected by the seasons. Many I'm sure think that the correlation between feeling sad and negative with the winter time is just an excuse made by the lazy and unmotivated. This is the farthest thing from the truth. I've always considered myself a go-getter and am usually a little ray of sunshine, but there's something about the winter that get's me in my head.

Maybe it's because winter is usually the time of decay—plants die, animals retreat to their holes and the sun only takes the morning shift before disappearing into the night before dinner time. I consider myself a child of the Earth and having a strong connection to the natural world. I think this strong, invisible tether to nature is why the seasons effect me more than others. No matter how hard I try to stay positive sometimes, I can't help but feel an overwhelming dark cloud hanging over my consciousness. It comes in waves, but when it hits, it hits hard.

What are some of the things you guys do to help with your seasonal depression?