As beneficial as it may be health-wise to get outside, breathe some fresh air and appreciate the beauty of nature, sometimes it’s nice just spending the entire day indoors — you can stay in pajamas (or in my case, nothing), not bother showering or putting on makeup, eat whatever’s in the pantry, read whatever’s on the shelf and catch up on emails or phone calls.
My blogging pal Shawn, of the late Kowai (R.I.P.), told me some months ago that he makes a regular point of doing just this. He refers to it as a mental health day because it’s dedicated time for him to be still, relax and collect his thoughts before rushing into another week of stressful running around. And, of course, it’s green, in that less resources are used, there’s no transit involved and nothing new is purchased or consumed.
While I definitely think it’s important to keep up social obligations during the winter and not just sit around at home on the couch all day, I also believe it’s worthwhile having time to oneself, being sort of mentally minimalistic (please, let’s not refer to this as “me time”). So from now on, I’m going to make sure that every couple weeks, I have an inside day.
Photo above is of me, hiding out in a tent during an especially frigid camping trip in Algonquin Park.
You must not be Freezing Yer Buns if you can lollygag around nekkid in Toronto in December. But, either way, any excuse for hanging out on the couch all day is a good one.
Couch potato days are good! Curl up with a warm blanket, a good book, and a hot cup of cocoa.
Haha, you’re right Crunchy! It’s a little too cold for me to be walking around my apartment in the buff these days. Thanks to the pledge I made back in March, my thermostat is stuck at just under 20 degrees (65F, I think — btw, I can’t believe some of the folks in your challenge are going down to 58!! Do they live in Florida??), which means I need some sweatpants at least…
Wow, I feel impressed with myself! Our thermostat stays at 19C (65F) when we’re home (4:30pm to about 10:30pm) and then drops to about 16C when we’re in bed or at work! I can’t imagine dropping it much lower (although, at -24C with the wind chill today, anything feels warm after being outside!)
On to the topic at hand, I am a firm believer in mental health days. I feel guilty about taking a day off from work for “mental health” but somedays, I just figure I won’t accomplish anything anyway so might as well be honest about it.
No, they don’t live in Florida, they’re just really into it. Some people are keeping their thermostats at 55F day and night. That’s too cold for me, even all bundled up, but I have noticed that I’m getting more used to colder temperatures, so I suppose after a while one would get used to it. I mean, people live in igloos right?
Anyway, I’m glad to hear that you are not suffering severe frostbite on your exposed bits.
Our kitchen (where the thermometer is) stays in the low-to-mid 50′s day and night (so far the excess heat from the neighbors is keeping us warm enough; we haven’t turned on the heat!), but it gets much warmer in the bedrooms, because they’re well-insulated and the body heat gets saved. I recommend lots of sweaters and hot tea. Boy/girlfriends are also extremely useful for conserving heat.
“being sort of mentally minimalistic (please, let’s not refer to this as “me time”).”
i love this.
My bedroom stays frigid all the time and for some reason, my walk-in closet is down right freezing. I think it’s the angle my apartment is at. Anyways, since I seem to sleep better in a cold room, I like to turn the heat down, if not off completely, when I sleep. Thanks to my mom, I have a million blankets to pile on the bed to keep me warm.