Summer is Overrated

All throughout our formative years, it is ingrained into our brains that summer is the bestest, goodest season of the year because school is out and we are free! Sure winter break and spring break are lovely too, but they are a temporary escape from deeds that are not yet finished. We still have more units to go, more exams to study for. We can’t allow ourselves to completely forget what we’ve learned because we still need to return and continue where we left off. When it’s summer though, oh we can forget now. We can dump our memory stores of the whole year into our subconscious and refuse to think about it again until we are forced to for some future assignment. We have no commitments to our education any more. We have no worries about upcoming exams and reports and projects. We can leave all our worries in the past and look to the bright tomorrow of sleeping in and seeing friends.
Until we get a job. Or graduate. Or both.
Summer isn’t really a break anymore. You escape school but now your days are filled with work. You have a new commitment that you have to show up to and function during. You don’t get to sleep in. you don’t have time to see your friends, they’ve all got jobs now too. You’re stuck indoors once again and it’s hot but you have to wear a stupid uniform that involves pants. You’re too tired after work to do anything the rest of the day so even though it’s light until ten pm, you sloth in your room because the feet are sore and the brain is mush. The short nights suck now too since you have to get up early and the sun blasts your eyeballs at five in the morning so you don’t even get a good long sleep to prepare for another work day. Summer isn’t any different now, yet we still act like it is.
I have heard so many automatic ads over the speaker at my drug store telling us all how everyone looks forward the entire year to summer. It haunts my head eight hours a day. I don’t like summer, and therefore, this whole thing I guess is biased. Here’s my reasoning though, due to the fact our climate is extra unhinged now, we have had stupidly hot summer months. I’m talking lethal temperatures given that there is no air conditioning in houses. I lose too much sleep because I cannot for the life of me pass out well when the air is suffocating me. I usually use a comforter and curl around it in a particular way because my body is eighty seven and is very specific about sleeping positions to ease pain. However, if it gets too hot, my comforter gets moved to my upper bunk and I swap it with regular blanket that doesn’t bunch up as well and support my body the way I need it to. I’ve woken up the next day with aches all over too many times. I can’t get to sleep, I can’t stay asleep, I can’t wake up feeling rested. I am constantly uncomfortably overheated and I hate it. 
Here’s more reasoning, the job thing. I work all day, four days a week. It may be the most beautiful day ever but if I’m at work, I ain’t enjoying it. I don’t get to have six sleepovers or go to the lake every day or camp for a week. I have work and grocery shopping and laundry and meal prepping and cleaning and resting to do. Not to mention that my friends are also working, or online schooling, or just busy in general. We got shit to do. Saturday is the only day we could all commit to and even then that’s not a for sure thing. We have two people that can drive and one with a car so if we plan a lake day or a sleepover or something that takes more effort than just showing up at my house, we can’t really be spontaneous since the lot of us have different schedules. 
So with the heat issue and the lack of free time, summer is just another season where the days are occupied and the soul is feeling overworked. I am completely aware that seasonal depression is legitimate and that people can get affected by the change in air pressure during the finicky rainy months. I know that weather has an impact on the mind. I also know that commercializing summer to such an absurd extent despite it really only being a valid time for teachers and younger school children does not help either. If we are all constantly told that summer is the only good time of year, the only time when anything is worthwhile and fun and carefree then obviously we’re gonna have some resentment towards the other nine months. The holiday season is advertised a bunch too but it’s more chaotic, stressful, and can be a sensitive time for a lot of folks. It’s not as colorful and without consequence. Summer is shown to be the best time of year when we can all finally be productive and relax and enjoy each moment we’re awake. During the rest of the year, it’s inevitably going to feel dull and boring and a waste of time. It’s no fun to be inside, you should be outside, in the sun, breathing the fresh air. You can’t do that if it’s not summer. Yet, with all that pressure to be happy during a season that isn’t even a break anymore, it’s easy to feel like you failed when you didn’t particularly fill your days with wild activities. What’s left now is for you to wait a whole nother year for next summer to hopefully redeem yourself. 
Except, that isn’t true. Summer isn’t the end all, be all escape to sheer bliss. Going outside and embracing that bright sun and hefty dose of vitamin d isn’t the only method to bring you joy. Not everybody gets seasonal depression, and even if you do, you can’t just look for the next summer. We need to find a new love for the colder months and rainy days since they’re a part of your life whether or not you like it. Therefore, I’ve made a list of fun things to do when you can’t live in a constant summer. 
Going to a movie theater: the experience of this is always fun just because it’s not something you can do at home and thus it feels like an event. Also big screens are exciting. 
Indoor sports and games: there’s indoor mini golf, skydiving, rock climbing, escape rooms, and skating rinks. There are arcades, bowling alleys, and pools. We have a couple board game cafes here, so mayhaps there’s something like that in your settlement. 
Bars and clubs: if you’re a social butterfly or just like to be in lively environments, well, restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs are a great indoor option. 
Here are things my friend group has done during the other seasons so you all don’t think I’m just suggesting things without trying any of them:
We went to Tofino for four days at the end of January. It was wet and not particularly sunny and awkwardly in between cold and warm. It was also a grand time. We stayed at a nice Airbnb house and relished in our wee vacation away from the city and regular lives. Even though it wasn’t super hot and bright out, it still remains my favorite thing I’ve done this year. Also it's the second time we've done this and we went two years ago in February. 
We went to Vancouver during Black Friday by accident just for a Japanese dollar store and Hot Topic. Malls are a wonderful way to spend the day inside, perusing stores, and avoiding sad weather. Even if you don’t want to take a two hour ferry to get there, just wander your local mall for a while. We’ve done that too, made a day out of it for the purpose of seeking a couple wants. 
We went on a Star Wars marathon. Every second Saturday, because that’s what one of our friends requested, we watched Star Wars in chronological order from the prequels to the Book of Boba Fett. It did not matter if the weather outside was fantastic, we holed up on my three person couch, featuring bean bag, and stared at an entertaining screen for hours. The only times we left was to gather sustenance and even then, sometimes we ordered in. 
We went to a fabric store, got some fleece, and sewed frog plushies two Saturdays in a row whilst watching season four of Stranger Things. It was too toasty to go outside, so we didn’t. 
We had a sleepover because luckily no one worked on Sunday and we did face masks, went to Red Robin, made banana splits, and went to brunch the next day. Aye, this was after going to a lake and spending a few hours there, but beyond that, we were inside most of the time. The goal was to have a classic sleepover experience so we watched Legally Blonde, then a bunch of dumb and funny Youtube videos, and ate a butt ton of snacks. 
One time we played Uno for three hours straight whilst listening to The Piano Man over and over again the whole time. 
    Recently, we figured out how to operate my Wii that was acting up and played Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Mario Kart for a decent while. 
    When a friend was visiting, we decided to go out for dinner, but it was pouring. Instead of surrendering though, the both of us bundled up in sweaters and coats and she even borrowed a pair of my boots. We armed ourselves with all the layers and braved the shitty rain and wind, trudging for fifteen minutes to get to our destination. It was hilarious and stupid and memorable and the warm restaurant and dinner was ever more satisfying in contrast. 
    There. There’s my proof that you can have a wonderful time inside even when the weather isn’t what you want it to be. As long as you have good company or mildly creative ideas, it won’t matter what the outside looks like because you will always have something fun to keep you occupied. I know it’s easy to blame a grumpy mood on the weather, but us people who have year round depression have to figure out coping mechanisms to keep going, so why shouldn’t the seasonally depressed? It’s not worth being miserable most of the year. You need to look for little things, little joys to push you forward one step, one day, one week. Waiting isn’t going to be enough for you, it isn’t going to satisfy you, because what if, when summer finally does come, you don’t get to do all the things you wanted? What if your plans fall through, the weather isn’t actually all that good, you’re too busy, your friends go on vacation? What happens when the one span of time that was supposed to make you happy doesn’t? There won’t be such a desire to make each summer the best one yet if we put that amount of effort throughout the rest of the year. Finding alternatives to happiness, making back up plans, and being flexible will help your sad brain immensely. 
We can’t rely on one thing working out for us, that’s unrealistic. But we can’t simply give up either when it doesn't, that's also unrealistic. Life can still be worth living even when it’s not the life you want to be living. It’ll be through finding wee positives anywhere you can that makes it still worthwhile.