S.A.D.
Yup.  There are lots of people feeling that way.  Covid has brought a lot of losses...big ones and small ones.  You are having a 'normal response to an abnormal situation'.  And now it is messing with all of the seasonal rituals that people have at this time of year.  And winter looms after that.....

My guess is that there will be more people affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder this year.  And if you're smart you won't be naive that it could affect you too.  So this is where the expression 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' comes in.

Regarding the holidays, it is helpful if you 'externalize the problem' of Covid.  In other words, if you are angry and sad that your family won't be seeing you this Christmas because their standards re: Covid are different than yours then blame Covid and don't take it personally.  Covid is messing with a LOT of family and friend dynamics this year.  It's hard.  Acknowledge that it is hard and then focus on coming up with solutions that will help to mitigate the saddness.  



For example, if you are not able to get together with family or friends this holiday season then maybe you can go for a social distance walk through a park that has Christmas lights up?  Or try geocaching to make it fun for kids of all ages!!  https://www.geocaching.com/play/search  Or you can try organizing a Zoom Christmas party.  I know, I know.  Groan.  Almost everyone hates Zoom.  However, if you structure it well, it can turn out differently than the Zoom calls where everyone is staring at each other and not talking or running over each other's sentences.  Try having some activities such as: a Gingerbread House contest; a viewing of each others Christmas trees; a cookie swap that you do ahead of time and then eat during the party; google Christmas carol games and screen share the images to play pictionary or word games; build snowmen in your front yard and show them off during the party; have a contest for who can come up with the funniest Covid Christmas carol!  The ideas are endless if you allow yourself to get creative, however, you have to focus on the solutions and not the problem.  And if you are using Zoom then structuring the party is the only way I have seen people have success.  It is definitely going to be sad to not have what we've had before.  It will be sadder if you don't create something that you have control of focusing on to make it as good as it can be.  

The same goes for the winter.  I suggest turning your garage or carport into a 'Fun-geon' with indoor/outdoor carpet, your lawn and garden furniture, a propane fire pit and electric blankets.  Then you'll have a warm place to socialize in a setting where you are able to socially distance and the Covid load is low.  And go to your neighbourhood game store and ask about games that are good at a social distance.  J&J's Cards and Collectibles is an amazing place to shop for games for all ages and there are hundreds of puzzles if that is how you tend to spend your time in the winter.  https://shop.jjcards.com/

Of course lots of people are mourning the loss of their ability to go on holidays abroad or down south.  Normalize your grief and then move into problem solving in alternative ways that allows you to have something to look forward to.  I know someone who had plans to go to Italy that were cancelled.  Of course she was disappointed but her resilience was amazing when I heard that she had decided to have a 'staycation in Italy'.  She only read books that were set in Italy.  She ate Italian foods and drank Italian wines.  She toured Italian Art Galleries and Museums online and she took Italian cooking classes!   Now THAT'S resilience!  

And the AirBnB business is still open and thriving with owners having Covid policies in place to sanitize well in between occupants.  Adjust your expectations to include a winter holiday and some skiing or dog sledding!

There is no doubt that this season and the winter that comes after will be hard, however, if you can plan ahead for how you will be resilient then it will be better than if you don't.  

Check out this great rendition of 'For the Longest Time-Covid style'!!

https://youtu.be/LpAKcQufacc

We are resilient and we can do this!!!

Lee