I’ve spent most of my life in place that doesn’t really experience seasons. I used to think that was I fortunate to not have to experience the harshness of winter, the weakened light, the wind so cold it stings. What I’ve grown to realize after experiencing fall and looming winter in the Northeast is that I’ve been missing out. It’s nice to be reminded that the world is spinning and change is happening almost all of the time. Seasons remind us of this.
“To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” - Henri Bergson
And even if you live someplace that doesn’t experience freezing temperatures — winter, this season of less light, offers us all something. It offers us time to be still, to hibernate and rest. It’s nature’s integration time.
“Winter is a teacher of vulnerability. It reminds us that darkness, not only light, is part of the recurring rhythm of what it means to be human” - Robin Wall Kimmerer
It’s always been curious to me that winter doesn’t seem to get the same celebration as the more fertile and festive months. There is the freshness of spring, the jubilee of summer and the romance of fall. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we, as a culture, are quick to celebrate the light, without acknowledging the power and wisdom gained from the dark. Our culture wants us to perpetually be growing and producing and evolving. Winter demands that we rest. Wintering, and wintering well, is countercultural, which is why it’s even more important that we honor it. There is purpose and a natural rhythm to a season of doing less.
Earlier this week, I participated in a winter solstice practice that invoked and welcomed the season and it struck me that there is nothing to fear. As much as we’re told we should be, we don’t have to be afraid of the dark. It’s in the dark, below the surface, and in the shadows, that true transformation occurs. If you ask me, winter is to be celebrated.
Wishing you a generative season of rest and reflection,
Asha Nia