Originally published at crisis magazine
January is always a hard crash for me. Each year, the pleasant lead-up to Thanksgiving is followed by a fast-clipped Christmas season right on its heels. New Year’s Eve quickly closes everything out in a disappointing mélange of unmet expectations and forced revelry. And then, for the next of couple months, it’s a descent into the long, cold darkness of midwinter.
For those like me who suffer from things like Seasonal Affective Disorder and clinical depression (not to mention midlife ennui and sinful temptations like acedia), it can be especially difficult to find a reason to get up every morning and face the day this time of year when the “Noon Day Demon” rests heavy on the shoulders. Of course, this is no excuse to forgo the basic spiritual remedies to keep the devil at bay—such as daily mental prayer and Rosary, regular confession, Mass and Holy Eucharist, spiritual reading, and acts of charity. You’re doing “all the right things,” and yet, it can still feel like there is a cloud hanging overhead. body .ns-ctt{display:block;position:relative;background:#fd9f01;margin:30px auto;padding:20px 20px 20px 15px;color:#fff;text-decoration:none!important;box-shadow:none!important;-webkit-box-shadow:none!important;-moz-box-shadow:none!important;border:none;border-left:5px solid #fd9f01}body .ns-ctt:hover{color:#fff}body .ns-ctt:visited{color:#fff}body .ns-ctt *{pointer-events:none}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-tweet{display:block;font-size:18px;line-height:27px;margin-bottom:10px}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-container{display:block;overflow:hidden}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta{float:right}body .ns-ctt.ns-ctt-cta-left .ns-ctt-cta{float:left}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-text{font-size:16px;line-height:16px;vertical-align:middle}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-icon{margin-left:10px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:middle}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-icon svg{vertical-align:middle;height:18px}body
