Elsey Curtis – Darker Days? Let there be Light!

October 10, 2011 By: Elsey Curtis

Elsey Curtis

We feel great after intense exercise.  And when the workout is behind us, so gooood! Such sense of accomplishment is ours, especially if we’ve pushed our increasingly diminutive girth out the door and made it to the gym in dismal, rainy weather.  After raising our endorphins through vigorous activity, we’re happy.  Or maybe not. What about the sunshine factor?

Personally, the thought of switching off from Daylight Savings Time in October brings on a disturbing case of SAD for me, afflicted by seasonal affective disorder as I am.  But no more binging on rich foods while dealing with pre-holiday anxiety, post-holiday blues, or in-the-thick-of-it holiday festivities: Let there be light!  A whole roomful.

Before convincing my Maine-iac better half to relocate to Balto where more sunshine is packed into a year and grand children live nearby, we used to live in the most-easterly state of the continental 48. Geographically, Maine deserves its own time zone but in the interest of commerce and common sense, real Mainers don’t want that.  Although rugged individualists, they are above all, a most practical folk.

At any rate, wherever we live in the Northern Hemisphere, craving more light at Autumnal Equinox time is not unusual. If you are deciding to buy light in a box this year, check out the website http://about.com and the article titled “lightboxtherapy.”  Helpful hints include the following points to consider before purchase:

1. 10,000 lux of illumination is the magic number your lamp needs to specify.

2. UV filters to protect skin and eyes are important.

3. White light is the kind of light artists prefer and you should, too.  According to experts, no gain is had with full spectrum or bluish light.

4. Size and distance matter:  Be sure you minimize glare but maintain your eyes within the range of light most therapeutically advantageous.

So, whether you select light in a box, wine in the box, or a jack in the box as we embark upon these darker days of the year, I’m hoping to see you at the gym.  P.S. If “lux” is a new word for you, too, here’s the result of my Google search: “a unit of illumination, equivalent to 0.0929 foot-candle and equal to the illumination produced by luminous flux of one lumen falling perpendicularly on a surface one meter square.”