Winter is coming. Fans of Game of Thrones know this is a foreboding phrase. In the series, it encompassed a lot more dreadful meaning than just a harsh, cold season. But throughout much of my adult life, I felt a bit of a foreboding resistance to the darker, colder winter months. Each year, I considered how I could prevent the energy and mood dips, the slowdown, how I could keep the summertime vibe flowing. Essentially, plotting to hack winter.
Over time, I began to have more appreciation for nature’s seasonal rhythm. In late fall, the changing color of leaves is a direct response of trees to the lessening light and colder temperatures. And eventually, as winter gets underway, many of these leaves are shed as a means to conserve energy and protect the trees. Several plants are reacting similarly, entering a dormancy state to support their survival. Many animals too, experiencing a slowing of heart rate and metabolism as a means to conserve energy. Lots of animals begin collecting and hoarding food as the days darken, preparing for a season of rest. I’ve been watching the little chipmunk that lives under my porch stuffing her cheeks full of acorns as she transports them to her stockpile somewhere underneath me. I’m seeing less and less of her as she is apparently having more slumber time in her den as the days are getting shorter. A period of slowing and resting before the coming growth and renewal of spring.
Observing nature, I don’t see a resistance to the darkening, colder days. Nature is not trying to figure out how to hack winter so it can bloom all year long. It’s just a seasonal reality that these other living beings know and accept. There are times to expend energy and times to conserve energy. Time to grow and time to rest.
But somewhere along the way, I seemed to have internalized a message that I wasn’t doing it right if I didn’t have a feeling of perpetual summer, full of energy and gusto. I think our modern culture promotes particular messages about how we should “always be,” or else something is wrong: always happy, always energetic, always productive, always progressing. But that’s just not natural. There are definite seasons of nature and thereby there are definite seasons of life. And sometimes we need to slow, rest, restore, go inward.
As I’ve grown to accept this rhythm as a living being, I’ve come to understand there is a real benefit to a season of slowing and being more introspective. A time of rest and retreat in preparation for the coming growth. With this acceptance is a greater capacity to immerse more in the unique gifts of this slower, darker season. Particular gifts for me this season are about cultivating inner warmth; cozying under the heavy quilt handmade for me by my grandmother decades ago, soft candlelight illuminating a dark room, gathering with friends and family and sharing good stories and hearty food, and lighting up indoors and out with holiday lights. Some may think I go overboard with the lights, but I truly don’t believe that’s possible!
And in this season, I find great value in the gift of time for reflecting, immersing, and appreciating. Time for taking stock and planning for the coming brighter, warmer days. As singer and writer Henry Rollins said, “In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.”
The winter slowdown reminds me of the agricultural concept of fallowing, leaving land uncultivated for a period of time, allowing the soil to rest and regenerate. When the land goes fallow, it is better able to recover and replenish nutrients because continual cultivation depletes the soil. Things can’t keep growing in the same soil. Might that be how it is with us humans too? Perhaps these fallow seasons are essential, these periods of rest and recovery, these times of preparing, whether or not they coincide with literal winter.
So now I’m able to embrace winter’s slowdown. I find great value in the darkness. And I also find great value in lighting up the darkness with lots and lots of holiday lights!
What are particular gifts for you during the winter season? What do you find value in during this time of year? May you be able to deeply appreciate and immerse in the unique opportunities this winter season offers.