The Retirement Newsletter: Dark morning and early sunsets
Issue Number: 184 (37) — why are they a problem now?
Welcome
Welcome to issue 184 (37).
This is an odd one this week and something I never thought I’d be writing about: my reaction to dark mornings and early sunsets. Dark mornings and early sunsets never troubled me when I worked, but now that I’m retired, they seem more noticeable.
Dark morning and early sunsets
I have written a lot about retirement and how it should be viewed as a great opportunity — the summer of life and not the autumn or winter (Retirement as changing seasons — retirement is not the autumn but the summer). But, for some reason, now that I am retired, this approaching winter has hit me harder than I expected.
Retirement, like any major life transition, can bring unexpected challenges. For me, one such adjustment has been dark mornings and early sunsets, which never bothered me while working. Yes, it was a pain going to and coming home from work in the dark, but I didn’t notice it. (One exception to this was when I lived in Glasgow. In Glasgow, winter days are incredibly short, and we used to get these thick grey cloud days when it never seemed to get light, even at lunchtime.) But now the dark mornings and evening really register with me.
Why the Change in Perception?
When I worked, my days had a rigid routine. Mornings often involved rushing through the pre-dawn commute, leaving little time to think about the darkness. Similarly, evenings were filled with getting home, work commitments or the simple exhaustion of the day. I rarely saw the sun go down.
Now that I’m retired, my pace of life has slowed.
I still follow a schedule, but it is more relaxed. The rush has gone. As a result, I’ve become aware of how daylight — or the lack of it — shapes my mood and energy. Waking up to a pitch-black sky feels wrong, and I see the sun dip below the horizon in the late afternoon. Time seems more noticeable.
The Science Behind It
When I worked in the States, a lab one floor down studied circadian rhythms — our internal clocks. Believe it or not, these studies used a white mould that grew along a tube. Every 24 hours, it stopped growing and produced black spores. You could look at the tube and see a black-and-white banding pattern — a bit like a bar code. However, due to mutations, some moulds produced black spores (fruiting bodies) every 23 hours and some every 25 hours. This gave different banding patterns and allowed the scientists to study the process involved in controlling the mould’s circadian rhythm.
Daylight governs our circadian rhythm, which helps set and control our internal body clocks. If you travel quickly to a different time zone, you will certainly notice that your circadian rhythm getting out of sync with the local daylight (waking hours) — you experience jet lag.
Now that I am retired, I experience less work stress, which can mask the effects of limited daylight. I also spend much more time outdoors, and I think I have become more sensitive to changes in light exposure. (I am not suggesting we lock ourselves in darkened rooms and not go outside!) I think the lack of stress and becoming more aware of nature and my surroundings is why I’m noticing the short days and hence their impact on my mood and energy.
Seasonal changes, particularly during autumn and winter, amplify this effect. Shorter days mean less exposure to sunlight, which can lead to changes in our rhythm and brain chemistry. You may have heard of this condition referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Some Strategies for Coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
There are many approaches for dealing with SAD — and I am not advocating any particular one of the following. And I suggest you look at the links in ‘Useful links’ below for more information:
Embrace Morning Light — Get up, don’t lay in bed, open the curtains and get as much light as possible. If you can, go for a short walk. Natural light, especially in the morning, helps reset your circadian rhythm. I used this approach when I travelled for work, and I have found it helped me reset my clock and recover from jet lag.
Light Therapy — A light therapy lamp that simulates natural sunlight can provide a boost during dark mornings by tricking your body into thinking the sun is up. A friend of mine uses one and says it works for her.
Reframe the evening — Instead of dreading sunset, use it as a marker to start winding down the day and doing particular things — reading, writing a journal, doing a hobby, etc. Don’t view the sunset as the close of the day. This is the mistake that I think I was making.
Be active and social — This fits in with number 3. Don’t view the sunset as the end of the day but as a marker. Plan to do things in the evening, such as going out or some indoor sport at a local club.
Acceptance — Be grateful that you now notice the dark mornings and early sunsets. This means you are connecting with the rhythms of the natural world. Retirement is a chance to tune into life’s subtler aspects, which elude us during our working years.
A New Rhythm
Retirement is a chapter or season of discovery that offers us joys and challenges. While dark mornings and early sunsets initially felt like hurdles, I’m learning to adapt and even appreciate their presence. After all, they remind me to slow down, savour each moment, and cherish the quieter beauty of this new stage of life.
If you’re experiencing similar feelings, please let me know in the comments and share how you are coping with these changes.
This week in the Retirement Hustle
This week in The Retirement Side Hustle — How much did I make in November 2024? — I will give a full breakdown of my side hustle earnings for November.
In the video, I give a breakdown of my income on my:
Medium Pension Blog (a repeat of the newsletter you are currently reading)
Nick’s Wanderings Blog (my new site for my travel stories)
Substack Pension Newsletter (you are reading it)
eBooks
In the video, I also share some exciting news about one of my YouTube Channels.
The Retirement Side Hustle Newsletter is subscription-based. However, each video comes with a free minute or so to confirm the content, and if you subscribe for free, you get full access to one edition.
Nick’s Wanderings — The Grey Wagtail
More adventures on my narrowboat — The Grey Wagtail. This week, the start of moving the boat from where I bought it to its winter home:
Useful links
Some links on Seasonal affective disorder (SAD):
Next week
Next week in issue 185 (38), it’s the start of prep for Christmas.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
PS: If you would like to contribute something to the newsletter — a story, advice, or anything else — please get in touch.