We’re near Blue Monday: the 3rd or 4th Monday of January and for some, coined the “saddest day of the year.” A mathematician came up with the idea, calculating that a mix of factors (like bad weather, distance from our New Year’s resolutions, and lack of sunlight) makes this day the toughest on our mood.
For Blue Monday in 2025, I’m reflecting on change and self-esteem. How do we navigate the pressure to change, and how do our goals and friendships play into our sense of self-worth?
Self-esteem can be affected by:
- The amount of money earned and spent
- Physical wellness
- Friendships
- Divorce
I recently attended a solstice party on the coldest night of the year, in the coldest major city in the country. My friend invited me, and though I wasn’t excited, I went. People gathered, wrote their regrets and mistakes, and burned them in a bonfire. They shared future goals and desires. The love and sense of community moved me deeply. I went inside to warm up, feeling inspired, despite also being a bit numb from the cold. Symbolic rituals like this can help improve self-esteem heading into the new year.
New kinds of ceremonies can help mark the time of change in the season:
- Burning a yule log
- Making an offering
- Decorating
- Crafting
This year, I decided to binge-watch a few movies for New Year’s inspiration. Bridget Jones’s Diary and Waiting to Exhale have a lot in common: they both start and end on New Year’s Eve, and both feature women navigating changes in their lives. In Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget has big goals: lose weight, quit smoking, and find a boyfriend. By the end of the movie, she has achieved most of those goals and feels good about it. Her friends celebrate her success, and she buys a new diary to start the year fresh.