In Katherine May's book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, she discusses cyclical periods of our lives when we need extra rest, self-compassion, and quiet meditative time. As she describes, “Life meanders like a path through the woods. We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again." A personal winter might arrive after a loss or failure, the end of a relationship, or any time we feel sidelined, grieving, or isolated. Winter is a time for self love and gentleness. As Katherine describes: "When I started feeling the drag of winter, I began to treat myself like a favored child: with kindness and love. I assumed my needs were reasonable and that my feelings were signals of something important. I kept myself well fed and made sure I was getting enough sleep. I took myself for walks in the fresh air and spent time doing things that soothed me. I asked myself: What is this winter all about? I asked myself: What change is coming?”
While the winters of our lives include pain and sadness, wintering can be exciting because of self discovery and change. For Katherine, this is analogous to snowfall: "what I love about snow is the way that it makes a clean break. It transforms the landscape. Everything’s different. Everything sounds different. The quality of life is different. The light kind of sparkles off it. You know before you open your curtains that snow has landed." Stay warm and best wishes in your experiences of wintering!
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