Saturday 22 June 2013

The Longest Day

The Longest Day has been and gone. Some time ago, in December probably, I wrote about the shortest day and its influence in seasonal depression and more specifically to me. Well, we're at the other extreme now, with yesterday having been the summer solstice and the hours of daylight imperceptibly shortening already.

Being a mildly deranged Oliver is always complicated. For more than half the year I'm mildly jet-lagged due to daylight savings time and a persistent awareness of that hours difference. There's also a second overlapping portion of the year where days are getting shorter, which also upsets me, resulting in just three remaining months of the year where there are no seasonal barriers to a settled mind. Now, of course, to blame the external forces is unfair. In reality I have a resistant body clock and hyper-awareness but it would be nice to lose that hours jetlag throughout the summer. Why is it still there?

Taking all the above into account, the longest day is actually not a wonderful occasion for me and maybe other seasonally sensitive people. It's the beginning of the declining half of the year, and the beginning of that deadly double overlap with British Summer Time. Fortunately self-awareness can be turned around so it's not all bad!

My last few posts here at the Quirky Muffin have been the required quirkiness. That's the cost of science and of a possible burnout. I spend far too much time at a computer giving out instead of taking in but that should change soon. Aberystwyth is remaining lovely predictably, despite cold cloudy weather and a storm of bizarre illnesses. Here's hoping that good things can come of these last few days, with a little hard work.

Now, if only I could this blasted thesis work reconstruction to work, blast it!

O.

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