Post-Vacation Blues?

[Prufrock06]

I just got back to school from Winter Break: a month spent mostly at home, hanging around the family, visiting old friends, taking a trip down to Florida for the holidays and to see some extended family. To make a long break short, I had a relatively good time. There were certain frustrations and drama that come with being around the family for so long, and there were some arguments and bitter days, but there were also some fun moments as well.

 

So now here I am, having unpacked all my stuff; my dorm room is back in order, my books for this semester's classes have been purchased, I have plans to meet up with a friend for dinner -- and yet I can't shake this feeling I get during times like this. I used to suffer from near-constant anxiety and I would say that my feelings are a little like that, but certainly muted. It's not bothering me so much as making me curious about what this is. I get very nostalgic about the time spent in the past -- the good memories, the trips, etc. etc. For example, I drove back to school today by myself and a lot of the time I felt in this kind of nostalgic funk, a little bit melancholic about the "good times" that passed and curious to see where I'm going to end up at the end of this semester.

 

What makes this post-vacation blues feeling different this time around is that I've gone through so much inner change over the past Fall Semester (I came out of the closet to many of my friends and my immediate family, I've lost a lot of depression weight and gotten over my issues with stress and anxiety, I've developed so much self-confidence and energy it's frightening at times, etc.) and so my nostalgia for the past is mixed with this kind of tense excitement to see where I'm going to end up over the course of the next four-five months: how better will I get at meeting people and social situations? will I start dating? how much more weight will I lose, what kind of job will I find once I graduate, etc.

 

But still this core melancholic feeling remains, so that I'm lounging around my dorm room and listening to a few songs over and over again that seem to strike a kind of emotional chord with me. The songs for this post-vacation blues episode are "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone (go figure on that one, it being cold and wintery here where I live and go to school) The Killers' "Smile Like You Mean It" and "An Honest Mistake" by The Bravery -- all three are songs I happened to hear this morning while I was packing and driving back to school. I guess I listen to these songs and I let my memory go -- I used to cry almost every time a vacation ended and I was back at school. Again, now I'm not depressed and sad so much as nostalgic and curious to explore where this might be coming from and, more importantly, whether other people feel this from time to time? Do other people experience this when getting back from a break or a vacation, or is this something endemic to my own individual personality (which is certainly nostalgic, sentimental, romantic, and at times melancholic)?

 

Any ideas, stories, advice on how you cope with this feeling, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Again, I'm really just curious to see if this is something more common than I think.

 

Thanks for reading through this post!

[Serendipity1607307077]

It's great that you are remembering the fun you have had, but it almost sounds like you are worried that the good times won't happen again!

 

You should reflect on those times saying "Yes, I had a lot of fun, and I hope those times happen again soon!".

 

It is quite normal to feel a bit sad once a holiday is over... but it sounds like you are feeling really down about it and it occupies your thoughts a lot...

 

I can't really see a solution... unless you try and pinpoint what it is about the experiences you have that makes you feel so sad when you return from your vacation...