Daily Jack Diary

January 5, 2026

First day back to work. I’m working from home, but it still feels like a real reset—admin work, prep for upcoming courses, switching the brain back into “professional” mode.

I did my usual morning walk at seven. It was biting cold. Freezing. And I hated it.

I’ve always hated winter. When I started feeling better through the Diane Method, I wondered—briefly—if this might be the year I finally made peace with it. That hasn’t happened. There’s a thing called Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD, and whether or not I’ve ever been officially diagnosed, it fits me perfectly. Winter has always dragged me down. I even tried one of those blue light therapy lamps years ago—staring into artificial daylight for twenty minutes every morning. It did nothing. Back when I was depressed, it just felt like another useless layer on top of everything else.

I genuinely don’t understand people who say they love winter. The cold hurts. People get sick. Everything slows down. As you get older, it gets harder on your body. My son feels the same way—we share a mutual hatred of cold weather and dark mornings.

If I could change one thing about my life, it wouldn’t be much. But living in a warmer climate would be near the top of the list. On business trips to Singapore, I used to feel irrationally jealous of people who lived in heat and sun year-round. Some of the expats there would complain about the lack of seasons, about not feeling time pass. I remember thinking: you have no idea how good you’ve got it.

Give me sun. Give me heat. My favorite month in Japan is August—the one everyone else complains about. Bake me. Let me sweat. Let me walk outside without pain in my bones. Sunshine feels like fuel.

All that said, I’m pushing through. I’m back at work, and I’m actually looking forward to the year ahead. There are some good courses coming up, and I feel steady enough to meet them.

Still—winter sucks.

Bring on the light.