Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Qupperneq 20

20
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2015
Welcome To The Dark
Winter is upon us. It’s here. Enshroud your very being in
short, frosty days with only a few hours of sunlight, followed
by long, frozen, windy nights. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Some handle it just fine, getting cosy at home as the weath-
er settles in. But the less fortunate ones, the ones who really
feel the lack of Vitamin D, will suffer from Seasonal Affective
Disorder, SAD. They will struggle to get out of bed until spring
arrives. Not being able to wake up in the morning becomes
standard for many people; their lives become a bleak, sunless
pit of frozen darkness. It’s hard.
If winter is your least favourite season: we hear you. Janu-
ary in Iceland can really suck. It has the shortest days and the
coldest temperatures, which can in turn lead to a lack of en-
ergy, mood swings and difficulty sleeping, to name a few com-
mon side effects of SAD.
Still! There’s hope! Whether you’re happily withdrawing
into your home, feeling a bit drained, or struggling with the
trials of full-blown SAD, there are plenty of things to do to
brighten your days and your life. In this issue, we take a look
at some options and activities—be they attending the first Ice-
landic music festival of 2015, Dark Music Days, or making the
most of Reykjavík’s many picturesque corners; or taking some
advice from a psychologist or sleep specialist.
What we mean to say is: we have some suggestions on get-
ting through the bleakest midwinter.
And, here’s some cold comfort: we’re already past the
worst. Winter Solstice, December 21, marked the shortest day
and the longest night of the year, when the North Pole was
tilted away from the sun at 23.5 degrees. It’s already getting
better by the day.
From now on, your days will continue to get brighter, figu-
ratively and literally. And, hopefully, our tips will help speed
up the process.
Snow, darkness, SAD
–Is it time to hibernate?
Words
John Rogers & Elín Traustadóttir
Photos
Sébastien van Malleghem & Nanna Dís