June Swoon

I don’t really believe in the claims of astrology (as an Aries with a Cancer rising and an Aquarius moon, I’m naturally skeptical), but I do think the seasons of the year may have more to do with our personalities and behavior than empirical science can tell us.

For instance, it seems like every year about this time—right after the summer solstice, when the days begin to shorten—I feel a certain unspecified sense of malaise, in spite of the fact that life is grand, the sun is shining (more or less), and last time I looked, there was still beer left in the refrigerator.

Of course, this might not be so astronomical as it is sociological: perhaps the reason I feel this way has to do with the transition from having to be always on during the school year to being able to be almost completely unbidden during the summer. Maybe I’m just crashing from the speed of fulltime employment to the slower pace of endless vacation.

Or maybe it’s my fault for reading the comments sections on online articles. Few things do more to undermine my already shaky faith in the human enterprise than perusing what anonymous writers have to say in response to news stories and editorials, and yet, I can’t seem to help myself. For some unknown reason, I’m inevitably drawn to click on the button that lets me read the hateful, confused, and often incoherent rantings of people with nothing better to do with their time than post their thoughts online for strangers to read.

Hmm…does this sound familiar?

In any case, there does seem to be a direct correlation between my general levels of happiness and satisfaction and how much time I waste on the enterprise of comment-reading. You’d think, therefore, that I would have figured out that the prudent course of action would be to avoid them altogether.

I’m sure I’ll do that, so long as comments are closed.