Today, as San Francisco's many proud pagans will tell you, is the Winter Solstice. That means it's the shortest day of the year — the sun will set at 4:55 p.m. barring any world-ending catastrophes — and your workday will be tightly surrounded by an enveloping blanket of darkness. With so much absolutely wrong with the world, it may be tempting to stock up on prepackaged Cutty Bangs and drink your way straight through to the sunshine-filled days many months from now. This, however appealing it may sound, would be a mistake. Instead, you should totally get out there and embrace the darkness.

What does that mean? Well, with clear skies expected for tonight, why not do some nighttime-friendly outside stuff like check out the Bay Lights? For those few who somehow don't know, the Bay Lights is a giant LED light sculpture covering the Western Span of the Bay Bridge. Designed by artist Leo Villareal, it runs every day from dusk to dawn — giving you 14 hours straight starting at sunset tonight to watch the art piece. Stare long enough and you may just forget that the estuary feeding the eponymous bay is totally and absolutely screwed.

Or, if that's too cheery for you, spend your evening investigating the best fireplace bars in San Francisco (heads up, the Lion Pub has closed). Grab a lover, a friend, or a good book for companionship as you stumble your way from roaring fire to roaring fire, with only shots of Fernet to mark the time.

Too active? Netflix just released the 2-hour Sense8 Christmas special, and The OA is crazy good, so how about some couch time? Feel free to run home, draw the blinds, and put on those noise-canceling headphones. We promise, no one will judge.

Days start to get longer as of tomorrow, providing us all with some much needed sunshine amid this bleak season. Let's all just hope that the light at the end of this darkness-filled tunnel isn't a BART train baring down on all of us.

Related: Months-Long Ocean Beach Bonfire Ban Goes Into Effect November 1