This sad girl winter, let's look for the little joys in life

By Karrington Garland opinions@kykernel.com

Sad girl winter is setting into my spine. I’m not a fan of cold weather. And I like to take snow in doses, never lasting more than an hour in the harsh cold it sets upon us.

Unless I can admire it from the comfort of my room, with no desire to venture out, then I am perfectly fine with it for a little while.

But as the days have gotten gloomier and grayer, I can’t help but feel my mood descend into the bottomless pit that is seasonal depression. When I came across Cardi B’s tweet on Jan. 19, I felt so understood.

Three simple words encapsulated my whole mood and how I felt the rest of this cold season would be for me. It was going to be a “Sad girl winter,” and I felt myself fully embracing it.

Although this past week held some semi-sunny days, they were still windy and cold. And when winter graces this campus fully, and the snow days eventually hit later in the winter season, I’m going to miss the warmer days immensely.

Winter in Lexington is beautiful but utterly sad and bare to me. Even though the cold doesn’t stop people from going to class during the week or out on the weekends, afternoons still feel desolate to me when out and about midwinter.

With these things in mind,

I am fully embracing a sad girl winter but not letting it permeate my whole mood this season. I am going to try to find the little joys this winter, and I encourage anyone else who gets naturally sad this season to do the same.

There are so many places worth venturing to during the winter months here. Some of my favorite places to go are the numerous coffee shops spread out around Lexington.

On gloomy and gray days, Brevede Coffee Co., Third Street Coffee and Coffee Times are great and aesthetically cozy plac- es for sipping on a hot cortado and cracking open a book to read.

For entertainment, Lex Live and the Kentucky Theatre have a plethora of movies to choose from and act as great pastimes when the weather is less than ideal.

If retail therapy is your guilty pleasure, Vintage Therapy, Sir John and the Lexington Peddlers Mall are interesting places to find unique clothes and knickknacks.

All these places are good ways to get out of the house and still stay out of the cold for longer than necessary. If coffee and retail therapy aren’t your cup of tea, there are other ways to find joy this season.

Mindfulness and meditation are good ways to calm nerves or anxieties that might manifest this semester, too. And journaling is a cheap way to purge insecurities, set goals, and optimize time and future plans.

I encourage anyone who gets sad during the winter months to embrace it, but not wallow in it. Try to find small joys and successes to get you through this time—it will make it go by even faster.

By Karrington Garland opinions@kykernel.com