Wintering

This time of the year has me thinking about cycles: the seasons, digestion, even our laundry goes through a cycle. And in every cycle, we see there is a period of rest. In our Western society though we seem hell bent on living in perpetual summer – a time of energy and productivity. But nature holds the truth of our cycles and reminds us, as I write from the desert, that winter is a time of slowing down, rest, and even dormancy.

A field is left unsown for a period of time in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation. One must avoid overworking the ground, leaving the soil bereft of nutrients. Like the field, we have periods of dormancy which require a suspension of normal physical functions. Sometimes this occurs outside our control in the form of illness, injury, or loss. Others with episodic depression know this cycle well. As Katherine May puts it, “these periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected.”

Temporary inactivity is required for rest. However, do not mistake dormant for dead. Just as the field revitalizes itself in this period, so do our bodies, minds, and spirits. Likewise, the butterfly’s pupa, or chrysalis stage, is a time of transition. It may look from the outside like nothing is going on but big changes are underway on the inside. The cells of the larva grow rapidly becoming the legs, wings, eyes, and other parts of the adult butterfly. Ultimately, flight is not possible without this precursor of inactivity.  

This wintering part of the cycle is a part of the natural order of things so why resist? Imagine what it would be like to inhabit a well-rested world. Imagine how you would move through the world if you were well rested.

Sunset in Joshua Tree

“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”
― Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

The practice: consider what rest looks like for you. For me, its stepping away from the computer for a few moments or for the evening. It’s putting my phone on silent or in a cupboard for a few hours. Sometimes it’s sleeping in an extra hour in the morning or an afternoon nap. Other times it’s a cup of tea and reading a chapter. A massage. A morning blocked off to play with watercolor paints. A five-minute mindfulness practice. Even just closing my eyes for thirty seconds is rest.

See what’s possible for you when you give yourself permission to rest. What opportunities are available to you when you embrace wintering?

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Book Recommendations:

~Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times by Katherine May: “Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.”

~Bittersweet by Susan Cain: “With Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she employs the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and the surprising lessons these states of mind teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality, and love.”