Beating the winter blues

Three years ago I started a journey of self discovery. Everything in my life had changed and it was time to rediscover myself and make plans for my future. Living in Canada my whole life I had decided first off that I never wanted to spend another full winter here. Travel has always been my passion, everything about my being is pulled by the insatiable need to see the world, learn about other cultures, see the amazing architecture in other countries and being able explore far off lands. Knowledge that other parts of the world do not have cold winters and have opposite seasons to us instantly peaked my interest and from learning that at a young age it has been a goal to not have to spend winter in the frozen white north. Having your hair turn into an icicle and break off when you touch it outside because you get out of the shower late and have to run out the door without being able to blow dry it is not motivation to stay where you are for the rest of your life, at least not for me. I was finally given the opportunity to experience warmer winter weather after 38 years on this planet and although it was not somewhere as balmy as Brazil it was still a big change from what I experienced my whole life. Now do not laugh too hard at this, for some, where I went may not give the same euphoric feeling as it did for me and in fact they still have colder winters than most of the United States but for me it just reinforced my need to leave Canada during our winter months. So where did I go you ask, I went to Portland, Oregon. 36 was the average temperature while I was there, it rained a lot, it was grey most days even when it didn't rain but man did I love it. An inch of snow shut down the whole city for a day and it was melted before it even hit the ground. The grass was green, the first time I ever seen people mow lawn in the winter, let alone when it was raining, but they would have forests for lawns if they didn't mow on the days when the rain was just a mist. The trees that bloom for a short time over the winter with the beautiful pink flowers, they bloom and die over a period of a few weeks and in the areas that have lots the ground is turned pink by the pedals it's absolutely breath taking. Now like I said it was not Brazil by any means, and I know that even if I went one state south I could of had palm trees and 70 degree weather but in comparison from where I live in Alberta, this was heaven. It continued my drive to get my education completed, to work on being able to make a habit of traveling over the winter months and be paid for it and I started a quest for different ways to make this goal, my dream, become my reality. After one winter and completing what I needed to get a start in the travel industry moving forward, low and behold the world said hold my beer lets give her one more hurdle, a pandemic. Of course this didn't just affect my life and what I have worked so hard to accomplish this has negatively affected most of the world. From people having their lives turned upside down from the lingering effects of getting the illness, or losing loved ones to it, it literally stopped my dream career and all I had accomplished in its' tracks and once again I was trying to put my life on track without being able to work in my chosen career. This also meant that I was going to have to endure another brutally cold Canadian winter. I am not even aloud to travel within Canada to places that are warmer than where I am, at least if I don't want to chance being in trouble and getting a fine. So now we reach the part where I make everything above fit into the title of my piece, how to beat the winter blues.

Beating the winter blues when you can get your vitamin D in a tanning bed and be able to go to recreation centers, water parks, amusement park and so on is definitely an easier thing to write about. There is so many of these things no matter where you live that all I would have to do is give you the examples of all the ones I have been to and which I love best. We could then banter about others, where I should go next to tell you all about and all would be right with our winter activities. Instead most of the world has these shut down, you can not travel to the places that they are still open in for the most part and for many money is an issue because of businesses also being closed and a lot of people not working or qualifying for help during this time. If you live in areas that do not have below zero temperatures I am guessing winter blues are not necessarily an issue but finding things to do may still be an issue if everything is closed. First off the knowledge of Vitamin D is important, if we do not get enough that is a major contributor to the winter blues and feeling down so talk to a doctor about a proper amount for your body and start taking that, you will be amazed at how much better you feel before you even consider finding activities to do. Exercise! Although the TV is the easiest way to kill the day, or searching the world wide web our bodies still require love and attention so making a space to exercise in your home is very important. An hour away from your favorite program you are binging on your streaming app to do something good for your body will make you feel so accomplished! You didn't waste your whole day and you've done something great for yourself. Yoga, simple weight training or different work out videos with the type of cardio exercises you feel confident in doing are all wonderful things to do in your home that help pass the time, keep you out of the blistering cold outside and do something good for yourself. I try to change up my routine daily so I keep it challenging and trick my brain into believing it is fun, not just something good for me. Find a hobby, doing arts and crafts, writing, painting, baking are just a few of the things that can help you keep happy in your own home since we are suppose to limit our interactions and who knows you may find something that you do goes better than you expect that you can use as a way to make money. Maybe someone sees something you make and offers you millions for it, you never know.

Now lets look at some of the more obscure ways you can cure these winter blues. Do you wanna build a snow man? Get outside, it may be cold and snowy and unreasonably cold but cooped up indoors can give your psyche a beating so get on those winter clothes, make it so you can't bend over to reach your feet from all of the layers you put on and get out that door. Go for a walk in a park. Trees covered in hoer frost surrounded by untouched piles of glistening snow is one of the most beautiful sites to take in during the winter months. The reflection of the sun off the snow is blinding and absolutely stunning reflecting off the frost on the trees. If you are lucky enough to have mountains included in these picture perfect areas you are in my vision of heaven on earth if you are forced to stay in the cold for the winter. So now that you are dressed correctly, experiencing an amazing view lets build a snowman! One year broken down on the side of the road on a horribly cold day, in the middle of nowhere rural Alberta during the holidays, the tow truck was over 2 hours away so our choices were sit miserably shivering in our cold vehicle or get out and play in the snow until help arrived, we chose the latter. We luckily had our snowboarding gear with us, anyone living in a cold environment should always have emergency gear in their vehicles, so we got geared up and went to play in the snow. We built a small igloo, a snow man and tossed snow at each other. We were warm from being out and moving around, got strange looks from the 3 whole cars that went by us and had so much fun in a not so fun time. There is so much to do outside even when it's cold, since the goal this winter is to stay away from as many people as possible, find areas close to home that give you space to play and enjoy the outdoors. Always remember to take breaks to warm up and have some hot chocolate ready to be made at home to finish the day warming up your frozen toes.

The thing I will leave you with last is not for everyone, it is something you can lose yourself in if you let it take you but it also a way you can meet people, make great friends around the world and discover things about yourself that you might not realize exist. There are live broadcasting apps out there that connect us with people from all walks of life, all over the world that you would probably never give a chance to if you crossed their path on the street. You can join broadcasts and talk to people, join their conversations typing in the chat and in some cases depending on the type of broadcast and the broadcaster, join the broadcast and talk with them. When my life turned upside down and all the major changes started happening I did not know anything about this type of app. I was in a position that I did not have a lot of money, I didn't have many friends where I was living and the reality for me was I didn't even know how to make friends as an adult. I started broadcasting not knowing what I was doing. I started watching more and more broadcasts until I thought I understood what I was supposed to do and then I started to broadcast myself. I don't have any talents to showcase so I talked, and talked, and talked... I have talked almost non stop for three years now about everything and nothing. I am a popular chat broadcaster and I have made some of the best friends of my life on the app I am on. It is very easy to get caught up in the drama, find bad people trying to use others or just there to say hurtful things to people to make themselves feel better about their lonely lives, but the reality about that unfortunately is it is no different than what happens in real life only on an app you can hit block and delete on the people that do this, that is not an option when you are at someone's house or them at yours and you see that they are a crappy person. As long as you are looking for good people and being a decent person yourself you will eventually find people that have the same vibe as you and it can take diligence but as long as you stay cautious and pay attention it is fairly easy to pick out the people who are not being honest. The most important thing is making sure you do not confuse the app for being real life and making sure you don't stop living your life outside of it. It is a great tool to stay social in a time when we are not aloud to have gatherings and be with our friends and family. It also kills a lot of time and keeps you indoors during the cold winter months if you aren't the type of person who wants to do them outdoor winter activities. Winter in Canada is 8 out of 12 months, we do call two of our seasons spring and fall but that is only cause the calendar says they exist, the reality is we have 2, construction and winter. So having a few different tools to get through winter is important, not all 8 months are deathly cold but still keep it important to have options especially during this time that we can't become snow birds and fly south.