Under Winter's Weather

Blog author: Karen Kendig

“A seed neither fears light nor darkness but uses both to grow.”

― Matshona Dhliwayo

I find winter to be a very confusing time of year. The decreasing sunlight, monotonous colors of white snow and grey skies along with bone aching low temperatures unleash a plethora of insane SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) feelings and a sense of being “under the weather”. Time in winter disrupts my circadian rhythms as I wake for work in the dark, eat dinner in the dark, and feel as though I am in the dark much of the time.

Winter weather often brings snowstorms that cause confusion and directional disfunction. Cloudy skies disorient me from the mountains in the west that serve as my north star. The blinding, dizzying powers of a winter blizzard play hide and seek with the road and make the journey frightful and beautiful at the same time.

Winter is when some of our most beloved holidays occur where family and friends come together to celebrate. It is also a time to become a hermit in front of the fire alone with our thoughts or a good book. Many people travel to warm, exotic places in winter to avoid all the unwanted and uncomfortable confusion that comes with the season.

This avoidance is partially cultural. In Denmark, where winter occurs from October to April with the average temperature around 32 degrees Fahrenheit and sunlight lasting seven hours a day, the season is appreciated instead of avoided. There, winter is a time for hygge (noun, verb, or adjective). According to an online article in The New Yorker, hygge is defined as:

“a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Pronounced “hoo-guh,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “cozy” comes close. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.” [1]

Our culture is rife with avoidance techniques. However, personal winters come and go throughout a human’s life and cannot be avoided. Winter confusion is the “time after the aftermath” when our “true needs [are] felt keenly as a knife”.[2] If we press on without taking time to process our conscious and unconscious thoughts and motives; without wading through the stages of grief; denying our feelings and emotions; and declining comfort in the act of hygge, we risk becoming what we wanted to avoid—empty, inactive, and alone.

In the winter/confusion season of re-invent-uring, winter is a time for attentive inactivity and ritual routine. In the uncomfortable experience of emptiness, you can find a new perspective from which comes wisdom. It’s a time to be alone to consider what you really want. It’s a time to heal and recover from the loss encountered during the disruption of Fall.

Our American culture does not honor, respect, or value rest. We must be on all the time, always producing and doing to be a “successful” adult. But taking a break to rest and recuperate is a legitimate strategy for our overall wellness. And in the end, rest prepares us for Spring ready and eager to be productive participants in life once again.

Daily Meditation

Use this meditation this week to help you open yourself to the changes around and within you.

With each breath, help me keep the flow of air in and out, focus on what has been given not what has been taken, and follow the light out of winter into spring.

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[1]Altman, Anna. “The Year of Hygge, the Danish Obsession with Getting Cozy.” The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-year-of-hygge-the-danish-obsession-with-getting-cozy.

[2] May, Katherine. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Rider, London, 2021, pp. 119–120.