We’ve just hit what I call the Weird Season.  You know, the “dip days” after December 25 and before January 1, when some of the patina of Christmas  fades in the rear view mirror and New Year’s is  down the road aways.

Does it feel… weird?  Like all the hope and hype of Christmas has dulled and you’re either basking in the afterglow of a warm and wonderful December 25, or you’re relieved at surviving another dreary disappointment, glad it’s gone and history?

How ’bout you?

Was your Christmas festive and fun, full of frolic and holly-decked halls? Did you enjoy a great office party?  Snowball fights with the fam?  Caroling, wassail-ing, mistletoe-ing and piles of gift-wrap?

Maybe your Christmas was lonely, meager and thoroughly forgettable? Did you logged off Facebook because you couldn’t stand scrolling through one more friend’s idyllic family gathering, all cozy and comfy around a kitchen table heaped with Christmas cheer? Maybe Christmas was replete with dashed hopes and unmet expectations?

Whatever the case, can I make a suggestion on how to deal with the Weird Season that hits between December 26 and January 1?

Write it out.

Whether you journal, blog, knock out a short story, write a letter or  jot notes on the back of a cereal box or a paper napkin, write it out.  Was your Christmas:

• Disappointing? Write it out.
• Filled with wonder and awe and memorable moments? Write it out.
• Joyful and triumphant? Write it out.
• A time of angst and stress and forced family ‘togetherness’? Write it out.
• Did you make mistakes in 2012 that you want to avoid in 2013?  What lessons did you learn, what bridges did you build or discover in 2012 that you’re taking into the New Year?  Remind yourself. Write it out.

Be honest.  Process your disappointment, anger, frustration or “love and joy come to you, and a merry Christmas too!” or “I wish it could last forever” post-Christmas let-down by writing it out.  Writing it real can not only help you get a handle on your Weird Season emotions, it’s also healthy.  A release.  A good way to gain some perspective.

‘Weird Season Therapy’

As you write, you may find fresh insight or understanding nosing around that wreath-wrapped window, curled up under that light-lit lintel.  You may also discover some unopened Weird Season “packages” like increased sensitivity toward those who may struggle to be “all in” at Christmas.  More empathy for the less fortunate.  A bigger heart for the lost.

Think of  writing it out as Weird Season Therapy.  If you’ve read this far, you know what I mean.  It’s okay.  You’re a writer.  If this holiday season lost some of its luster, was less than you hoped for, or you’re not quite ready to let go of the goodness, do what you do best: write about it.

There.  I feel better already.

How do you cope with the ‘Weird Season’?