Not Enough Light?

It's been dark. Two weeks of near-constant rain means dark skies to rival January's short days and lack of sunlight.

Some people swear by the benefits of light-therapy boxes. I wouldn't know. They're expensive and they take too much time/attention to use. However, some measure of relief can be found in simpler and cheaper ways.

Go outside for 20-30 minutes every day. Do it even when it's not very sunny, because there's still more sunlight outdoors than there is in your house. Don't do it early in the morning or late in the day; do it when the sun is reasonably UP in the sky so you get drenched with more of those happy rays. Go outside for your sunshine even though you don't have time for it. Some of us need the sunshine more than we need to brush our teeth or take our showers.

Eliminate curtains if at all possible. Even when they're open, they probably cut down on the light coming in the windows.

"Natural light" bulbs (such as Reveal) don't do what light-therapy does. But they sure serve the purpose in a much better way than plain old fluorescents or incandescents.

Find things to do by your sunny windows. When you're reading books to a kid (to whom you never read enough anyway...) do it by a sunny window. When you're mending, do it by the sunny window. Move your computer to a place near a window. Watch how the cats always find a sunbeam to sit in. Then steal the cat's spot.