Conor Cawley: Seasonal Affective Writer’s Block

I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret: it’s cold outside. Like really cold. Like cold enough for me to not only tolerate Chicago’s recent word-play-based nickname,”Chiberia,” but nearly condone it. However, in the words of every person that is too cool for trending social media topics, it’s supposed to be cold… it’s winter. And while a few mild Decembers and Januarys in the last few years have gotten us a little too comfortable in only three layers, below zero temperatures in the Midwest are to be expected. Unfortunately for this writer, it takes a toll. And I’m not talking about my frostbitten fingers or frozen windshield wipers.

No, I’m talking about something that plagues those of us who live in places with real winters (excluded: California, the South, Mexico, etc.): Seasonal Affective Disorder. For those of you unfamiliar, SAD is when you’re lazy, unmotivated and generally displeased with the world because it’s cold outside; the weather weepies, if you will. And as someone that has spend a large chunk of his adult life in a city that has been playfully dubbed as “paradise” on more than one occasion, I’m having trouble adjusting to the plan-ruining, motivation-sucking, fat-creating sadness that comes with this season. But luckily for me, it doesn’t stop there!

On the surface, Seasonal Affective Disorder is what you would expect out of someone that hasn’t seen sunlight for more than ten minutes in between snow showers and polar vortices. But SAD has extending consequences that go beyond yelling at your roommate because they didn’t do the dishes… again! That consequence for me has been a bad case of writer’s block. I don’t know what it is about never wanting to go outside that drains my inspiration, but for the last few months my creative mind has been a black hole that a decent knock-knock joke couldn’t escape from.

So what, you may ask, is driving me to write this eloquently crafted post for you on this delightfully cold and snowy day in February? I have no idea! Maybe it’s because I’m writing this inside. Maybe it’s because I’m watching TV and a commercial with a beach just reminded me that this won’t last forever. Or maybe the key to getting over Seasonal Affective Disorder is to whine about it. That sure would explain why everyone does that so much. Whatever it is, I hope it persists. Because the only thing worse than having the weather weepies is not being able to write about it.