When the blues hit, these comforting activities brighten my well-being.

With it getting gloomier and chillier outside, I tend to find my mood matching the weather these days. It is an interesting predicament I find myself in, as it is one of my favourite times of the year. I love Fall and the feeling of a fresh start in September, but it can feel like I’m drowning when I’m swept up by a bunch of tasks on my to-do list. I know myself well enough that if I stay down for too long, it’ll start impacting the work I need to get done. With that, I began to try to do some things that usually cheer me up.

I already have a self-care routine, but I love adding in extra tidbits as pick-me-ups. This routine can look different for everyone, as we’re all into a variety of things. Personally, when I think of self-care, the first aspect of it that comes to mind is skincare. After the usual double cleanse of my face, I love putting on a face mask sheet before my serums. My favourite ones are the Dr. Jart masks, since they make my skin glow. I usually use these masks on a weekly basis, but especially when I need to feel better.

Once the skin has been taken care of, I love putting on a good movie. This allows me to distract myself from whatever is boggling my mind and escape into a fictional world. I tend to stay away from watching T.V. shows when I’m down because then I end up binging them, which can become unproductive and cause me to feel bluer. 

I ended up re-watching The Maze Runner trilogy recently, since it had been a while since I last watched them. Ironically, the events that happen in those movies aren’t the most relaxing for the viewer to be witnessing, but I already knew how everything was going to happen. As I was watching it, I realized how much I loved that era in time where all kinds of dystopian movies were coming out and how a lot of them are some of my most favourite movies of all time. 

If I’m not in the mood to watch a movie, I end up online shopping, or at least just browsing (although I am most likely  shopping and not just browsing). This is something that used to get out of hand for me before I started practicing mindful shopping, and now I don’t usually find myself  indulging in overconsumption of materialistic items. However, I loosen the reins on this habit when I’m feeling sour. Am I saying it’s the healthiest thing? Certainly not, but it sure cheers me up. I recently bought a coat for the fall, because who doesn’t love a cute new coat? Then I ended up buying another coat, which I accidently bought in the wrong size when I was on my shopping frenzy the other day. The second coat for now is TBD…

Something that always brightens my day is coffee. This is something I pretty much drink daily. However, it somehow tastes better when I’m unhappier. I like it in all its forms, and though I don’t mind hot coffee, I particularly like it iced. Coffee is coffee though, so I’m not picky with it when I don’t have options to choose from. You could just give me the coffee beans and I’ll make do with that, if that is the only option available (it hasn’t come to that and hopefully it never does). 

To make my time even better with the coffee, I love going on a little walk. Whether that’s wandering through the park by my house or strolling through campus grounds, a walk doesn’t just boost my mood, but it also ends up calming my nerves and allows me time with my thoughts. I especially love walking outside in the Fall, when the leaves are ombre colours and a slight breeze is going by. 

If the weather is too unbearable to go outside, I like spending time organizing my Pinterest boards. I am always updating them, but when I’m trying to uplift myself, I like doing this in depth. Whether that’s changing up the board covers or creating subcategories within each board, it brings me joy that I cannot necessarily express in the right way. I really love organizing in general, and being able to do this all in one place so neatly makes me smile every time. 

Using my Pinterest boards, I like watching different tutorials to improve my skills when trying to cheer myself up. For example, I like trying out new styles with my hair and figuring out which ones work for me on what occasions. Now, I’m trying to figure out how to use a French pin. So far, I’ve been unsuccessful with some of the styles but hopefully I’ll figure it out. I’ve also been checking out different eyeshadow and eyeliner techniques that would look nice for special events. I like learning new things in general, but especially when I’m down because it makes me feel better about myself when I’ve gained and applied new information. 

When cheering myself up, I don’t limit myself to just doing these activities. These are examples of some of the main things I have been doing recently. Some of them may be silly, but the combination of these activities with others have successfully cheered me up and have helped maintain that mood. 

If you’re feeling bluer than usual, I suggest brainstorming a list of things that make you happy. Whether it’s something simple like your favourite food, or complex like producing your own documentary in your spare time, this will allow you to hone on what uplifts you so you’re able to cheer yourself up too. 

It’s okay to feel down at times, but it is crucial to be able to recognize what’s causing it and how to go about elevating your mood. Take care of yourselves out there, as it becomes even more crucial to do so since the academic year is only going to get busier.