Hello.
My name is Saleha and I am the current receptionist at The Breathing Space Therapy. I have been tasked with writing blog posts people might care about. Blog posts as a tool to direct traffic to the website. I don’t mind. I love the people I work with and love to help. But you, the reader, have my word that I will do my best to only talk about the things that actually concern you.
For this first blog, I had two choices: AI usage in therapy and the post-holidays blues that tend to come up when all the guests go home.
I decided on post-holiday blues just because AI is a big topic that will still be relevant in January. Post-holiday blues tend to be temporary.
To be honest, I love hosting. My home is normally quiet. We are also in the middle of nowhere so it is difficult to find community for eating and laughing and growing.
Guests are awesome, even the overnight ones. Guests love to eat what you make. They love to teach you new recipes. Younger or older, there is always some trick that they were aware of for how to get that stain out of the couch (that you just tried to hide with a cushion). And the best thing about guests is that you all laugh at the same scenes in the holiday movies. You all know the characters in the story told around the dinner table. And, sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get to fall asleep to the noise of the people you love having a good time in your house. It’s great.
And then they leave. Gradually or all at once, you do find yourself alone in the silence again. Time to stop relaxing and enjoying the sounds of happiness. Back to the sounds of the laptop fan, the podcasts, reading the work memos, and waiting for that paycheck.
Guests are like a break. And then they leave and we are sad. Some people call this a “happiness hangover”.
Canada is largely a mosaic of different cultures so I am going to pull from one of my neighbors right now. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is a saying, “A guest is like the rain.”
Temporary moments of family and community and bonding that makes the world outside seem a little more dazzling. The air could smell cleaner and the grass may look greener. And we feel rejuvenated. That’s the important part. The fresh feeling that everyone has benefitted from this brief period of closeness.
When addressing the “happiness hangover”, try to plan small things to keep your emotions steady. Spend the time organizing all your photos from the past week. Ask people to work with you as you all collectively sort through the documented chaos of the holidays. Giving your mind a subtle, gradual shift in focus will make the absence of joy feel less severe. Pace yourself until New Years. And then pace yourself again until Family Day. You’ve got this.
If you can’t seem to pull yourself out, don’t feel alone. You tried what you knew. Reach out to the people around you and even a professional, if needed. Don’t feel like struggling makes you less.
