Making friends with winter…
I am a big fan of Wintering. This is the season that I embrace for its magical beauty and its silence. There is an unspoken permission to lay low and restore energy from all the activity from summer into fall.
For some folks winter feels heavy and dark. Short days and long nights of dark skies starting at 4 pm in the day. There is a transition from summer’s warmth to the bitter chill of the winter’s storms. Even if you live in a warm climate, the daylight is less and the temps a little chilly.
It takes an adjustment.
Changes make us adapt.
If you are in winter now, I encourage you to find a place where you can retreat and go deeper into self-care. If you have lost someone in your life, be ready to grieve and wrap yourself around wintering. It is a time of silence and yet a time to emerge within a safe community of hope as you heal.
Use winter as an opportunity for rest and reflection. When darkness hits, make some hot cocoa or tea, grab your journal, make a fire, and write through your loss. Find the words and put them to paper. Do not judge what you write. Allow it to express what you feel.
I use winter months to make art. I pour a glass of wine, put on some jazz and paint. I am alone and happy with my creative self in winter. I find if I can be alone with myself and be creating then I am the most fulfilled.
You can also enjoy wintering outside despite the cold or the snow. Take yourself outside. Smell the air. Dance. Make snow angels. Find a rock and sit and close your eyes in the silence.
If you are someone who must drive to work in winter and the fear of icy roads paralyzes you, then create a plan both for safety and for releasing the fear. Safety plans are important yet do not allow the fear to cripple you. Do not anticipate an accident or disaster because when your thoughts are consumed with fear, you cannot let in the joy of the present moment.
As I am writing this, I am watching the snow as it lies on the tree branches in my forest and the way nature has that perfect way of holding our hearts. There is beauty and balance even in times when a natural catastrophe occurs or a storm rages through. The great shift in weather and climate is inevitable and it tests our resiliency and our courage. It also tests our strength in building community and asking for help.
If you are a person who fears winter or even dreads it, then consider ways you can embrace the changes in your life you fear. What if winter became your friend? What if you were forced to slow down because of ice and snow?
What does slowing down mean for you?
And why do you dread the thought of longer hours of darkness? Where in the darkness can you find the light?
Wintering offers us the opportunity to be still. For some folks that means facing ourselves in ways that scare us. Too much silence? Too much time alone with our thoughts?
I invite you to make friends with winter. Discover the beauty of a slow and careful walk in the forest or seeing your neighborhood or city streets differently. Stay open to the magic of silence and even when you fear the next winter storm, try to remember how many storms in life you have faced and the opportunity each one gave you to grow stronger.
With Grace & Gratitude,
Kumari Patricia