When I was in college, one of my classmates shared the fact that he suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.).  For years, as autumn turned to winter his moods would swing, his energy would sap and he'd have low-grade depression. Some people talk about the "winter blues", a seasonal funk that kidnaps motivation or displaces energy.  For sure, dark late-afternoons that limit time outside can deprive you of outdoor exercise, gardening or other COVID-safe experiences. Maybe this is why Christmas lights, decorated trees and holiday TV specials get us in a good mood- they counterbalance the gloomier feelings. But unless you are sidelined by these feelings, what if you took the time and created the space to listen to them?  I hope you know feelings won't kill you, even if they could disturb you; sometimes inner disturbance isn't a bad thing:  it often offers vital information.   C.S. Lewis once wrote: You have stood before some landscape, which seems to embody what you have been looking for all your life … All the things that have deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it– tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest– if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself–you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say "Here at last is the thing I was made for." Rather than a dark, dreary disposition, experiencing the fullness of this season could open up all sorts of possibilities and opportunities. Hear the echo from your deepest, truest self- a place that is always filled with the most brilliant light and sacred goodness.  THAT'S the place where there can never be SADness nor meanness.  Negativity is ultimately incompatible with the truest you.  Know this and live this. If you are looking for some ways to fight loneliness this winter, click here. Have a good day and make it a good day for someone else!