Wintering

“Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

Senses

As humans, we typically have one of the five senses that grab our attention more than others. In the show Inside the Actors Studio, James Lipton always asks, “What is your favorite sound?”  This question has always resonated with me, as I’m sensitive to noise and always pick up on both loud and subtle sounds. When I first heard this question a couple of decades ago, I immediately knew my answer: “The Silence of Snow.” Walking in the world when she is freshly carpeted in the snow is my favorite. There is a palpable quiet, unlike any other time, with the snow stilling and dampening everything within reach. Seeing the dog frolic in this world brings me so much joy. He outwardly displays how I feel inside, receiving the stillness and silence of the snow. I saturate myself with this experience each time we head into a freshly fallen snow. I am a Winter Baby and always will be. It is in my bones. 

Celebration

Last year, for my 50th birthday, I hosted a Wintering Celebration. I helped walk my participants through a looking-ahead ceremony by connecting with flowers that symbolize the qualities and values they want to manifest in their lives for the coming year. We then traveled back to when they “wintered” and wrote a letter to their younger selves offering support, love, guidance, and the wisdom they would gain from this experience. It was not your typical “Party,” but it was precisely the celebration I needed and wanted for myself and those I chose to gather with me. For me, it was magic. 

Winter

Now that we are deep in the season, maybe it’s time to consider the value that Winter offers—the surrendering, deep rest, and retreat from the busyness of life. It is a time of letting go and turning inward towards the silence within you.  The natural world follows this cycle year after year. You are also the natural world. Welcome winter in.

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