Ain’t No Cure for the Holiday Blues…

Ever feel like the holiday season is looming right over you?  Yeah….me too.  With all the moving and furnishing and staining and painting and Kiddo’s birthday parties and (insert neverending list of STUFF), I’ll admit that I’ve been phoning in Christmas shopping this year.  I’ve been phoning in the Christmas SEASON this year, to be quite honest.

One thing I haven’t let slip through the cracks is a friend of mine who has a hard time with depression and anxiety.  As you can imagine, this time of year is especially difficult.  You’ve got the “everyone is happy, put a smile on your face” pressure, the anxiety of having to be out in crowds or in social settings, and it adds up to a season where people suffering from depression or have had losses can feel even more out of place.  This one friend isn’t local, so I’ve made an extra effort to be around on social media with him, chatting.

He told me once that having even small things to look forward to makes a big difference.  Go out and be the small thing in someones life, and it makes you feel better about other things you can’t quite keep up with in your own life.  Like the Christmas Cookie Exchange that I had RSVP’d to as a ‘maybe’ and then totally forgot about this afternoon, returning the crockpot to the lovely friend who loaned it to me …. or stocking stuffers.  (I could insert a picture of my Gift Cards here, but that would be a tasteless plug, right?)

I was going to try to wrap this post up into a neat bow with a few words about massage and depression, but I’ll just take the lazy way out and put that link in.  Click if you want to see the research.

By the way, I open at the new location in Riverview on January 1st.  I’ll be at the Brandon/Valrico location for the rest of this week, doing massage and saying goodbye to all the regulars of the salon. Call if you want some gift cards or to schedule… although you can use the online scheduler to set up your January & February appointments now.  There are additional options if you want gift cards, too.  I have a nice lady who calls me every year around this time from the Midwest to get gift cards for her parents and I hand deliver them.