Letters for a Lighter November

The Autumn can change how we feel about our days. It does for me. Not as much as it used to….but still, this year feels different and I’m not sure why. It feels sad already: some of that dread is creeping back.

Which is why I’m doing this – for me, and for others to come along with me, see what can change, even a little bit. We all know ‘a little bit’ can make all the difference sometimes.

LETTERS FOR A LIGHTER NOVEMBER

Thoughts, practical ideas and weekend writing prompts to make the darker days a little easier.

We might love the bright colours of the changing leaves, secretly feel alive with the crispness of the mornings, and even feel a little bit enchanted by the idea of frosty cobwebs. I know I do. But it still brings that familiar foreboding. And for the longest time I couldn’t work it out.

My husband calls me a solar-powered human. He’s right. Some of us are really affected when sunshine is replaced by grey.

Getting up, coming home, dark.

Sky, grey.

Deciding what to do with the evenings that feel like they start at 3:30.

Witching hour; that gap between 4pm and 6pm when it’s neither day not night.

Starting Monday 2nd November I’m writing A LITTLE LIGHT FOR NOVEMBER. Four weeks of understanding and practical letters from me to you, explaining that you’re not wrong, mad, or weird. There’s science behind why we feel this way. There’s a real psychological weight buried in memories and stories that come to the surface at this time of year.

The good news is that there are real-life ways to support yourself and loosen the ties of years of winter depression. We’ll be looking at darker days, tiredness, loneliness, hibernation, busy heads, restless bodies and kind of feeling low that feels like it’s stealing your days.

What happens when the autumn brings more than falling leaves and darker evenings?

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT?

It won’t be the usual ‘here’s what’s wrong with you, off you go’. I’ll be sharing my struggles too so you know you’re not the only one – you’ll recognise them pretty quickly.

There’ll be things you can do to feel better: yes, some you know, tried and tested – but I’ll be sharing the why and how of doing things differently, not just what to do. And also some ways you may not have heard about, that might just shift something for you.

The neuroscience, the psychology. How to feel the sadness in your body and do it any way.

Each Saturday morning, there’ll be a slower read with a writing prompt to explore what the week’s subject means for you. These are the things I’d like you to share, if you would, so I can share the sentiment behind them with the community. Maybe you end up writing a poem, tell a story about you, or share something that worked for you. Let’s support each other.

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