It’s a good thing that I listen to CBC radio in the am. They keep me informed of works news and the quirky stuff. Like the fact that it is Blue Monday today and that a few weeks ago it was giving Tuesday.
It seems we’ve got “new” holidays popping up left right and center, thanks to social media, I would wager.
Blue Monday date and “facts” got coined in 2005 by Dr Cliff Arnall who worked out how a variety of factors – including debt and weather – came together in perfect sync on the third Monday in January of every year. He deemed this the most depressing day of the year.
CBC took the proactive approach and this week is looking at ways to beat the winter blues. Today’s info was all about colour and how it can have a positive impact. I took the orange sunrise as a sign that the day ahead was looking mighty darn fine. That, the sunshine, the spike in temperature and a short work day.
Back to the decree about today. How is it that someone can decree today the most depressing day? Maybe that’s June 22nd – the days that get shorter? Maybe it’s November when the cloud rolls in and tensions rise over the coming holiday? The one, that thanks to social media and our own expectations, has to be “perfect”.
This Dr Cliff Arnall was working on a marketing campaign for a non defunct travel company when he came up with this concept. But why did we buy in? Why do we need a day that is the “most depressing”? Doesn’t each life have enough challenges without subscribing to a campaign to make us spend money and travel to make us feel better. Or if you can’t afford to travel it you feel more depressed because your life isn’t at the elite level.
HM – it’s seems to be a bit of a rant doesn’t it? As you can read I am not a fan of creating a negative image day.
Let’s find the positives. Let’s find the bright side to this day and each day. Let’s fill social media with colour and positives and the upside stories like how people in Newfoundland are helping each other as they dig out from a crazy storm.
Life has ups and downs. One hour of negative vibes in a day could derail the positives. How well I know that feeling but with some support and a small vent session I turned around and found the positives. More icing time and a pass on the shoveling I guess is the end result.
With the blog post so late in the evening there isn’t much chance to change the outcome for anyone but myself on this Blue Monday. But think about this — let’s use social media for support and positive attitudes.
Bernie
