Growing up in Vietnam—a damp, hot and sticky place—I dreamed of cold weather and romanticized snow. As luck would have it, the first winter I experienced after immigrating to the United States was the 2010 ‘Snowmageddon.’ While everyone was panicking over the 20 inches of snow and the blizzard-like conditions, I was stuck in a snow daze. 10 years of snowy winters later, and I still love it! To be fair, I’m not saying I want 20 inches of snow every year, but I think the winter season gets seriously underappreciated.
It goes undisputed that cold weather is the ultimate sleeping weather. Though the ideal sleeping temperature varies from person to person, a study published by the NIH shows that we sleep better in cooler temperatures because exposure to cold temperatures does not disrupt sleep, whereas heat exposure can disturb you even in your deepest sleep cycle. And, of course, there’s something inexplicably cozy about snuggling under a mountain of blankets and laying your head down on a cool pillow.
In addition to improving your sleep quality, there are plenty of reasons why winter is the superior season. As a kid, there was nothing quite magical as waking up to snow-covered streets and finding out that school had been canceled for the day. And then there’s the shopping. Between Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday shopping season, the winter months have the best shopping deals. If you don’t want to shop, there’s ice-skating, sledding, skiing, building a snowman, making snow angels, neighborhood drive-thru light displays and the list goes on.
Unfortunately, the winter season has been wrongly held responsible for seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD or seasonal depression. However, it should be known that seasonal depression can occur in any season, not just in winter. As a matter of fact, there are people who suffer from summer seasonal affective disorder, which resembles agitated depression brought on by heat. Thus, it is simply unfair that the colder season gets a bad reputation because of its association with seasonal depression.
For many people, especially introverts like me, winter was made for us. When the weather is nice and sunny, you can only turn down plans so many times before people think you’re rude. But when the streets are covered in a thin layer of ice, you have a perfect built-in excuse. And on your cozy night in, you have the perfect opportunity to binge-watch winter holiday classics such as “Home Alone,” “Elf,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” etc. Next to Halloween, wintertime has some of the best movie marathon options. Needless to say, I’ll be counting down the days until the first snow.