BLUE MONDAY? I WAS JUST BLUE WITH THE COLD

Blue. I love blue, it’s my favourite colour. I toyed with purple and flirted with black in my teens but I always come back to blue. Such a simple thing. A proclamation expected from a child, an important question, what’s your favourite colour? Blue? Yay! Me too!

Come and see my new potato collection because you and I both like blue so we are now besties for life yes? Wouldn’t life be great if we still conducted ourselves on the basis of toddler questions?

Short of buying someone a gift, what does it really matter? Choosing paint for the house or the colour of a new car, then yes, that IS a most important decision. NOT make, model or horsepower, etc. Colour.

Choice of shoes or clothing? There are colours I will wear because I like them even if they do not suit me, and there are colours I just know are NOT my friends. Red for example. I love red. It doesn’t love me back.

But blue? Blue never lets me down. I had my colours “done” last summer; I am apparently “muted cool”. In my head I heard this as licence to wear even more blue. Did I want to consider greens or even dove grey? No thank you, me and my pal blue here are doing just fine. Just as well really, considering the contents of my wardrobe. I even wore blue when I got married.

So, I have mixed feelings about last Monday being Blue Monday. According to some dubious boffins, who do studies and things, this is the most miserable day of the year. Back to work after Christmas, but not yet quite pay day. Resolutions fallen to the side and not a bank holiday in sight.

It shouldn’t surprise you to learn the whole Blue Monday concept was invented by a travel company as a marketing gimmick to boost the sales of holidays. This pseudo-science theory preying on our low moods.

It may not have been born from the most scientific of experiments, nevertheless well played folks – you saw me coming through giant glass doors.

Right then, let’s set about shaking off any negative blue of Blue Monday and welcome the comfort associated with all shades of my favourite hue.

What do the experts recommend? Fresh air. Sunshine. Going for a walk. Being sociable. Spending time with a loved one. Dance like no one is watching, okay that’s a step too far. The rest I can manage.

An early morning hospital appointment prompts me to chuck the dogs in the boot of the car and bring them with me. Not into my actual appointment but there is a stunning nearby beach for a long, bracing walk afterwards. Going for a walk always does wonders for my mental health and I’ll invite a friend to join me. Exercise? Tick. Fresh air? Tick. Sociable? Tick. Look at me fake experts, am nailing this cheery, self-help stuff.

My appointment didn’t take as long as I thought so I arrived at the sandy dunes ahead of my friend. No problem, except for the two hairy eejits making the car bounce even though we were no longer moving. I’ll just head out and start walking until she gets here.

Scarf. Hat. Gloves. Anklelength coat. Hood over hat. How is it possible to have an ice cream headache WITHOUT the joy of the ice cream? The -2C temperatures plummeting further still by the wind howling off the North Sea, determined to cut me in half.

My phone rang and I answered, trying to hear biggest kid calling all the way from western Australia.

I’m walking to work, she told me. I can’t really hear you, it’s a little windy here, she explained. It’s a little cooler, only 32 degrees, she exclaimed.

No mention of my Arctic weather gear OR the fact I refused to remove my burglar scarf from across my face. I hung up before my language turned the air blue.

I turned back, the dogs most put out by their shorterthan-promised wander, arriving at the car just as my friend arrived.

At least the sea and the skies were both blue in honour of the day; unfortunately so were my lips.

FEELING BLUE?: Take yourself for a walk in the bitter cold.