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Blue Monday? Big whoop

So Monday was Blue Monday. Or maybe that’s next Monday. Those who were polluting my Facebook news feed couldn’t seem to make up their minds one way or another. Whatever day it is, it’s supposed to be the most depressing day of the year.

Of course, as the Globe & Mail pointed out on Sunday, the “scientific” basis for such claim is a bunch of hooey — Blue Monday is an invention of a British travel company as a way to stimulate business in an otherwise slow month. The scientist responsible for the equation explaining why January’s Mondays lead to depression is also responsible for explaining why the happiest day of the year falls somewhere in June.

But aside from a shooting in Tucson, growing rumbles of a spring election emanating from the Prime Minister’s office and national turmoil in Tunisia, is there really all that much depressing stuff happening in our lives these days?

Sure, we’re all back in school. Assignments and readings are starting to crop up, even after everyone blew off the first weekend of the new year to stand in line at The Ceeps. Those unfortunate enough to have an exam scheduled on the last possible day are cursing their all too brief break.

On the other hand, we’re at the beginning of the new year. It may be arbitrary, but the change in mindset shouldn’t be underestimated. We may end up breaking all of our resolutions later this week, but we can hold our heads high for at least setting some goals with our own betterment in mind.

We’re also less than a month away from Reading Week — a sunny oasis where we can safely forget how terribly alone we were on Valentine’s Day.

The next month will also mean the endless entertainment of a University Students’ Council election period, where students will be able to watch their peers make fools out of themselves in the vain hope somebody will remember their name at the ballot box.

There are plenty of reasons to be down at this time of year. Crappy weather and virtually perpetual gloom makes the time outside of the classroom more unbearable than it should be.

But we shouldn’t give in to the urge to enshrine Blue Monday as yet another Hallmark Holiday. Beyond the fact that being perpetually happy would grow old incredibly fast, arbitrarily citing a Monday in January as being a depressing day does a great disservice to those around us who suffer from tangible depression on any given day.

Let’s face it, folks — the days are getting longer, we have a week off coming up and there’s a few months between now and the next uncomfortable family holiday.  Time to let January off the hook and rescue it from slanderous accusations of being blue and depressing.

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