Bright Spots

A box of beautiful citrus - lemons and clementines.

I am aware that we haven't had a long and hard winter so far, but I really do miss summer. In all of January, we've had no more than two total days of sunshine, one at the beginning and one at the end; the rest of it was entirely grey. Needless to say, it was starting to really affect me and, despite my efforts, my mood went way down. Thankfully, February has been a little brighter so far. Although it's still mostly grey, we've had peeks of sunshine that have really helped me out a lot: there have been a few sunny mornings already and there was also that one day last week with beautiful afternoon sunlight coming out from behind the clouds just in time to shine down on us for a little while before sundown. Even this morning, as I'm writing this, the sun is coming up into a bright blue sky, peeking out from behind the house on the other side of the street and giving me the energy and happy vibes I need to start this new week off on the right foot.

A brightly coloured cup for my next hot concoction.

I miss summer. I miss the warm weather, the mostly sunny days, and most of all, I miss the sights, sounds, and smells of the season - birds chirping, flowers blooming, grass growing... all the little things. I think one of the hardest parts of winter for me is the lack of colour. On a bad day during this end of January - beginning of February period, when winter has been here for long enough already but I know that it will still be here for quite a bit longer, I feel particularly discouraged. On these days, I make sure to do a couple of things that help me feel better: for one, I try to stay away from my Instagram feed, that every year seems to be filled with pictures of sunny and warm (sandal-wearing warm!) places that seem so far away from my current reality. Second, I do my best to fill my indoor life with as much colour as possible; it might seem silly, but it's incredible how much a little bit of colour - whether it's in the form of a cup, a piece of fruit, or a shirt - can do for my mood.

New drawer organization that's making me smile more than anything else right now.

For now, I'm thoroughly enjoying this sunshine that's now falling directly on my face and later on in the afternoon, when, according to the weather channel, we'll have some more snow falling (and, consequently, more grey skies), I'll hold on to the thought that last week, most groundhogs across Canada predicted an early spring.

I'd love to know, do you prefer summer or winter? How do you cope with all the grey winter days?