January has settled in as it should in Canada with snow, wind and cold temperatures. The Christmas season is behind us for another year but its side effects linger. The hospital is bursting at the seams with high numbers of patients with respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. During the COVID lockdowns, the number of people using the emergency department decreased significantly and we saw a big decline in other communicable diseases such as influenza, RSV and norovirus. The pendulum has swung hard in the opposite direction. I have been called frequently this month to work extra shifts in the emergency department where people wait up to three days for a bed on a medical floor. I see the phrase, "The patient had sick contacts during Christmas" in many charted histories.
I walked around the neighbourhood yesterday where the sky was grey and the ground was white. Nature is in a deep slumber and it occurred to me that we need seasons of withdrawal and rest too. Christmas is a time when we push ourselves to fulfill social obligations even when we are tired and sick. We may resolve to be more active or start a new project in the New Year. All the while, the natural world in this hemisphere reminds us to work less, sleep more and take the time to prepare for a healthy period of growth in a couple of months. This is the season of steeped tea and simmering soup, daytime naps and downtime without guilt!
I have noticed that people who do not pace themselves will break down. I have been one of those people. In my early twenties, I recognized a seasonal melancholy that started in November as the days shortened. I pushed myself through these weeks year after year trying to fulfill seasonal obligations. Not surprisingly, most of the illnesses and injuries I suffered during my adult life occurred between November and January. It was hard to opt out of Christmas but my body sometimes provided an escape. While depression can be debilitating and require treatment, I see my seasonal "melancholy" as a normal rhythm of life. The pressures to achieve that are added by society, family, workplaces, churches, and even ourselves, can stop us from listening to our bodies. We should not wait until we are sick and broken to allow a change of pace so we can reset.
Our energetic grandchildren visited between Christmas and the weekend after the New Year. They were not "hibernators" in any sense, but they did go to bed early after each busy day, just like their Nana. I can identify with Anne Morrow Lindberg who wrote,
"Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me."
Time for bed....Goodnight! I will make some New Year's resolutions in March.
Comments
Post a Comment