As the northeast endures yet another arctic blast, we are faced with extremes that test even the hardiest of souls. Winter can be a trying time for plants, animals, and people alike; but it is an important season with benefits that should not be overlooked. Despite our tendency to complain about the cold, a frozen season offers much to be grateful for.
With the right mindset, a cold winter can be a precious period for restoration and preparation. Understanding the snowy season’s significance can help you cherish winter and tap into the special energy of cold days and long nights that will propel you headlong into spring.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
– Albert Einstein
Significance of winter
Winter is like Nature’s reset — it marks the turning point from the end of one growing-season to the beginning of the next. Nature takes a deep breath, and life outdoors seems to stand still. Regardless of how dead the landscape looks, inner work is taking place behind the scenes.
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For most plants and animals, the name of the game in winter is Survival. Careful rationing of resources, adaptive strategies, and remarkable endurance allow them to outlast the cold and prepare for the warmth, when Nature springs to life again.
Although it’s less noticeable in humans, we, too, experience a challenging pause. Try as we might to maintain full speed ahead, winter always finds ways to make us slow down. Colds and flus, travel advisories, snow days, cancelled flights, and frigid temperatures keep us closer to home, where we are faced with a reckoning of our own making.
If we are wise, we will learn from nature and focus on the essentials during this time. Like a tree that drops all its leaves, we can shed unnecessary attachments. Like other mammals, we can hunker down and tend to our fundamental needs. Like an insect in its cocoon, we can surrender busyness for stillness, and transformation.
Compared with spring, summer and fall; winter is stark and austere. There is a harsh honesty in the naked and exposed landscape that speaks of acceptance, fortitude, and trust in the Creator’s plan. It reminds us to see ourselves plainly, and exhibit patience, endurance and faith.
And lo! A storm of heavy flakes replaces the dismal and barren ground with glorious, glistening snow. The fresh, clean slate we’re presented with has a simple, quiet beauty that inspires awe, reflection, and our own aspirations for purity.
The audible hush of winter invites us to listen more attentively — to the wind, passing through empty trees, to the crisp pattering of sleet, to crunchy snow underfoot, to the comforting sounds of your heat source, to the questions in your heart, and to divine guidance.
Learn to embrace the snowy season
Now that you’ve decided to make the most of your winter, you’ll need to shake off your negative notions and replace them with a passion for possibilities. Winter begs you to welcome change. Recognize the cyclical nature of things, and rejoice in being a part of it.
Instead of dreading dull days indoors after a big storm, get outside. Go sledding, snow shoe, ski, make a snow man, shovel your driveway, or at least take a brisk walk. The exercise will do you good, and the cold temperatures will energize you and stimulate your immune system.
They might also test your inner strength, and this should be seen as a good thing. While human nature desires comfort and ease, our spiritual development requires us to endure hardships. Without risking frostbite, try to tolerate some of winter’s discomfort without complaint. Be grateful for the opportunity to settle up some karmic debt and become more resilient in the process.
When the cold is really too much to take, think of all the wonderful ways to get cozy. Warm sweaters and slippers, hot cocoa and hardy stews, fresh baked anything, snuggling up with a book, and enjoying a toasty fire with your family are specially reserved for making winter special.
Better yet, shift your focus from your own discomfort to think of others. Nothing warms the heart like an act of kindness. Check in on your elderly neighbors, help a stranger dig out their car, host a winter potluck, and help spread hope and joy.
Even without an ounce of snow, you can look beyond the dark and dreary to find beauty all around you. Notice details, colors, and patterns that only come about in winter; like frost crystals creeping up your window, evergreen plants encrusted in ice, and subtle changes in wildlife.
Rather than resisting Nature’s winter restrictions, welcome them. Take this opportunity to slow down and prioritize self care. Like nature, prepare for the coming spring: Savor nourishing soups. Indulge in inspiring books. Wonder, think, dream.
“The best thing about a winter storm is knowing you don’t have to go anywhere.”