winter: productive stillness

Listening to my self-talk about my winter dread, I noticed something new this year: it is not the ice (which is actually lovely gracing the branches of the trees in my yard) or the snow that is the problem.  I don’t mind the cold so much anymore, because I really like the excuse of staying in and snuggling up in my warm home, anyway.   Demands at work and school, holiday parties and fundraisers, hosting family, shopping, cooking, cleaning feels incongruous with my energy flow at this time of year.  Despite what our current culture says, I instinctively know that this is the time to do what essentially looks like nothing.  It’s time to go inside and hunker down for winter.

I see myself resisting it; I am still trying to keep the garden going, and keep digging roots and deadheading (clipping the dried  flowerheads from the expired blooms of the summer and fall, saving them for seed to plant next spring).  Walking through the neighborhood on frosty mornings, I can still sometimes spot the remains of shasta daisies, zinnias, blackeyed susans, passionflowers, marigolds, evening primrose, mullein, morning glories.  But honestly, it's time to come indoors. While I shelter myself from the snow and cold, I order seeds from garden catalogs while sipping tea (root decoctions and lots of warming herbs), catch up on blogs and books, and meditate on next year's sowings--material and spiritual.

We can’t be fooled by the appearance of dormancy.  These seeds, brown, dried and brittle, look dead.  They will sit still and quiet for months, even without the nourishment of fertile soil, water and sunlight.  But when they are sown in the spring, they literally “spring forth” their energy.  Winter can serve us in the same way in our lives.  This winter, I invite you to think about what you will cultivate and nourish, with your own energy and thought turned lovingly toward yourself.  Spend these next months, with their more-daylit days, getting adequate rest, food, and fresh air.  Stay warm and dry against the cold, damp weather.  Take good care of yourself, deeply root your intentions, and enjoy the season.