Keri Leibovitz

It still is cold and blustery and wet and snowy.

And so I think that the magic helps people there tap into the possibilities of winter.

And I think this adapting to the winter really helps people enjoy it.

It's important for a number of reasons.

So first of all, we know that fresh air, connection with nature and movement are all natural antidepressants.

So if it's a time of year that you feel down, that you have the winter blues, we know that getting outside, moving, connecting with nature, even if it's just a little bit, is going to give you that mood boost.

The other thing that I think is so important is that the more you stay inside in winter, the more it gets built up in your head as something you can't do, right?

That you can't get outside or you can't enjoy yourself outside or it's too hard or too difficult to go places and do things.

And that's going to limit you from doing anything, right?

So winter is a great time of year for indoor activities.

But even if what you want to do is go to the movies, go to museums, go take a dance class or a painting class or a language class, meet up with friends, go to the gym, all of those things require you to leave your house and brave the elements in some way, shape or form.

You know, I think that there is a number of different cultural factors, right?

If you've lived in a place that has historically been cold for, you know, thousands of years, that culture might be passed down, right?

It would literally be life or death if you didn't.

Bring your neighbors close.

If you didn't have people that you could rely on in the cold, dark, snowy months, that might be the difference between you surviving the winter and not.

And so I think that that culture gets passed down even in our modern times.

I also think that so much of the culture in the U.S., in most places...

wants us to be the same year round, right?

The expectations are that you should be equally productive and energetic and efficient no matter the season, no matter what's going on outside, no matter what's going on in the world, and that it's almost like a willpower failure if you're not.