Blue Monday is upon us. Of course, January couldn’t be a more fitting month to host the most depressing day of the year, but it got us thinking. Surely one, unassuming January Monday can’t be burdened with a title such as the ‘most depressing day of the year’. Rather sets us up for failure, does it not?
Unsurprisingly, Blue Monday is a concept unique to the Northern Hemisphere and is based on an equation (urgh, surely nothing good can come from maths) that takes into consideration the weather, the time passed since Christmas, debt levels, feelings of low motivation and failed New Years resolutions. Perhaps we’ve largely brought this on ourselves.
But this left us intrigued. Why does the colour blue have such depressing connotations?
Turns out, Westerners are the only ones to view the colour blue in this way. Even when it doesn’t mean ‘sadness’, we ‘turn the air blue’ with foul language. In Germany, ‘blau sein’, which translates ‘to be blue,’ actually means to be drunk.
So, on this, the most depressing day of the year, let us explore the world for a little pick me up and uncover the many, many, contradictory connotations of the colour blue.
In countries such as Turkey, Greece, Iran, Afghanistan and Albania, the colour blue adorns eye-shaped amulets used to ward off evil and people wear them as jewellery or hang as a talisman in their homes. It protects the wearer from envious stares, perhaps inspired by a bout of good fortune or success, which then manifests into a more insidious curse intent on undoing that good fortune.
In Hinduism, blue is the colour of Krishna, an important deity whose skin is the hue of this complex colour. Krishna embodies love and divine joy and destroys pain and sin.
Which is not too far removed from the connotations the colour blue has within Judaism. The colour of the sky represents divinity, love and joy, which could be why it’s found in the Israeli flag. In fact, 51% of flags contain the colour blue!
In Latin America, you’ll often see the colour blue wrapped around the head and body of none other than the Virgin Mary herself, which has got to be a good thing right? Of course! This largely Catholic region considers blue a sign of hope, good health and wealth.
Now to the East, to really turn things on their head. The colour is commonly associated with immortality, but in Korea, dark blue is the colour of mourning. This also goes for Iran and Mexico. But, hold on, doesn’t it also represent protection from evil and good health in those places? There are many shades of blue, but you can see why this might get confusing.
The colour blue has long been associated with that of baby boys, but not in China. where blue is actually the colour of femininity.
Blue is also associated with calm, peace, freedom and cleanliness.
In Jodhpur, known as the ‘Blue City’, the walls of buildings are painted blue to keep the inside cool in the sweltering heat. In Morocco’s Chefchaouen, it’s said that blue walls ward off mosquitoes because the picturesque city looks like the sea, which, of course, holds no appeal to those blood-thirsty bugs. In Islamic culture, blue represents happiness and optimism, so perhaps painting everything blue just provides an environment to keep the spirits up (unless you're a mosquito).
So, you see, blue has lots of good connotations. Today can mean the most depressing day of the year if you wish it to be, or it could be the healthiest day of the year, the day in which you have the most protection from those that wish you ill-will. Perhaps today you’re mourning the death of a loved one or celebrating the birth of a little baby girl.
I think the best thing to take away from this day is, Blue Monday is whatever you make it.
But if it’s too late for that, hold out till the happiest day of the year, which falls between the 21st and the 24th June. Or book a holiday and leave the Northern Hemisphere behind for a while.
