There is such a massive buildup around the Holidays this time of year. People prepare months in advance for singular days that represent countless hours of time, thought, and effort. Guest lists are created, menus are prepared, presents are purchased, alcohol is procured – and finally after what seems like years of work, the month of December comes down to one day. All of the stress that went into creating the perfect environment to allow just maybe a small glimpse of what can be described as Holiday cheer is gone. Poof.

You forget to be sad at first about the quick passing of Christmas. You can’t decide whether it’s the aftershock of the enormous amount of energy put into a single day, or whether it’s your annoying relatives that have probably yet to catch their planes home that keeps you distracted, but you forget that it’s ended. You haven’t hit reality yet. You are still floating on the remnants of Christmas cheer and wafting along the trail of holiday meal leftovers. Your food coma is still in full swing, and it’s still completely socially acceptable to have your house remain decorated. For now.

You really don’t start to spot the magic slowing draining from the world around you until the day after New Years day. New Years Eve was your last hoorah, your opportunity to welcome in the New Year with all your favorite people, get absurdly intoxicated, and get very excited about a lot of promises to yourself you probably won’t keep. New Year's day is filled with recovery from your hangover and a childlike appreciation of a fresh slate of a new year like it felt every time you moved up a grade in elementary school – endless possibilities, and no sign of past grievances in sight.

The day after New Year's Day is when things start to go south. By January 2, the glow has begun to ware off. You recognize that the New Year is just another year, and that the second day of this year is simply the second day in your untouched 2016 calendar. Christmas feels like a distant memory, and your visiting relatives have left. All the holiday meal leftovers have probably been eaten, and decorations have begun to slowly be taken down. Where once stood a Christmas tree and ambient lighting in abundance, now sits the dreary prior arrangement. The holidays seemed to have slipped through your fingers without you having even noticed. Maybe you reflect on all the Christmas movies you didn’t watch this year, or the New Year's kiss you knew wasn’t going to happen but held out hope for. The grandeur seems silly, but missed. You miss the feeling of having something to look forward to, and consequently look towards the future, desperately searching for another event to prepare for – often not finding much.

The winter season has seemed to lose it’s purpose in the placeholders of our year – and while in reality the situation is far less dramatic than you are probably feeling, the effect of the holiday glow being blown out has a sobering effect. The next week will be something of a Holiday blues, and that’s OK. You will return to your normally scheduled activities and while at first it will seem ridiculous that just a week prior you were celebrating, it’s nice to know that there is always next year, and you start all over again.