Winter break affords students a much-needed break from academia, but going home for the holidays is not always “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
With the “Bleak Midwinter” weather, the exhaustion of living in close quarters with family for a month and the temptation for end-of-year doom spiraling, the holiday season can trigger an overwhelming feeling of melancholy. Whether you want to embrace or fight the December blues, try these activities to break up the monotony of the holidays and set a backdrop for your winter woes.
Make a new playlist
As the weather gets colder and the days grow shorter, the holiday season can stir a full spectrum of emotions: from cozy joy to introspective reflection. Crafting a new winter playlist can be the perfect way to lean into these divided feelings.
Instead of sticking to the cheery and classic sounds of the holiday canon, like Ella Fitzgerald’s jazzy charm or Bing Crosby’s nostalgic timbre, take some alternative tracks for a spin. Singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers boasts a plethora of darker holiday tunes in her catalog. Her cover of McCarthy Trenching’s “Christmas Song” especially captures the sneaking melancholy of the holidays with lyrics, like “The sadness comes crashin’ like a brick through the window/And it’s Christmas, so no one can fix it.”
Now, pair your playlist with a warm atmosphere that will compliment your music’s more icy tone. Strap on your headphones, snuggle up with your favorite blanket and a cup of tea and let yourself sit with the mixed emotions you’re experiencing. By digging into the songs’ honesty about the difficulties of this time of year, you can find comfort in knowing you’re not alone.
Get crafty
Sometimes all you need to ward off a spiral of sadness is a distraction. Try engaging your mind and busying your hands by learning a new craft.
Winter is a great time to get cozy with a knitting or crochet project, and after a summer that saw everyone and their mother learning how to crochet, there are a plethora of YouTube and TikTok tutorials available to start the journey. Simple projects like scarves and beanies are winter essentials that also make for great gifts for friends or family.
Making knotted or beaded friendship bracelets is a less daunting hobby and a classic crafty pastime that harks back to sunny days at summer camp or the simpler times of warmer months. With minimalist or funky bead shapes, vibrant colors and an endless choice of patterns, there are limitless options to make as easy or as complicated a bracelet as you please.
Or, if you’ve been curious about making your own scent at Georgetown’s newly opened Olfactory NYC — a personalized fragrance store — but don’t want to spend the $85, candle or soap making is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to become your own “scentologist.” The internet is littered with simple soap and candle making tutorials, and you’ll end up with a practical product to return to Foggy Bottom with.
Regardless of what art form you choose to take up, simply making the trip to craft stores, like Michaels or Joann to pick up materials can be an instant serotonin boost. After perusing the colorful aisles of your desired craft store, turn on some music, a movie or a show and unwind with the low stakes challenge of a new crafty hobby.
Take yourself on a date somewhere new
When the seasonal blues hit and you feel suffocated at home, it’s vital to carve out time for yourself. If you need a remedy for cabin fever, take yourself on a solo date out of the house.
Choose a new place in your city or town that you’ve never been to, like that quaint café you’ve wanted to try, the bookstore with inviting nooks and crannies or your local park for a brisk winter walk. Exploring a new spot gives you a sense of adventure and offers a reprieve from running into skeletons of your high school past at your hometown’s familiar haunts.
If you’re feeling spendy, treat yourself to that fancy meal you save for special occasions. Or if your wallet is thin after holiday gifting, buy a hot cocoa and hit the museum in town you haven’t visited since that one middle school field trip. You could even whip out a journal to write about your hopes for the new year or practice gratitude by recalling happy moments from the past semester.
The holidays can be lonesome, and solo activities can remind you that you alone have the power to spark personal seasonal joy.
Create new traditions with friends
Spending time with family is typically an essential part of the holiday season but such expectations can also be a harbinger of stress. Whether you end up waging war over politics at the dinner table or simply get overstimulated by certain overbearing family members, look to hometown friends to bring winter cheer without familial frustrations.
Try creating new annual rituals with friends to induce some collective merriment. It can be as simple as baking cookies and having a holiday movie marathon or something more niche to your friend group, like themed gift exchanges based on shared interests. For the comically-inclined friend group, buying each other gag gifts, like ugly T-shirts to wear on your next group outing is a surefire way to imbue the winter months with some much needed laughter.
Hosting a potluck dinner where each friend brings a different dish is another way to spice up a December night. You could take it a step further and have each person cook up a dish from their culture to create a worldly meal and take a break from the traditional, and fairly bland, Christmas plates, like ham and green bean casserole.
Creating holiday traditions with friends can not only take some of the woe out of the season but also ensure you never miss a reunion with hometown friends.
