A fire crackles occasionally nearby, puffing out the icy chill that sifts through the window. I sit with a mug of cocoa in hand contemplating the year past and the year to come. The barren trees outside are sprinkled with white, and the grass weighs heavy under the burden of an unexpected snow. Christmastime has come and gone and we have begun to settle into the soft winter lull. With an end to the holidays, we are now entering the bowels of winter– those barren months when plants shed their colorful garments and animals burrow deep for a time of hibernation.
It is easy now to fantasize about seaside sunsets and late-afternoon cook-outs spent with friends. Each year about this time, our hearts begin to ache with anticipation for life’s more punctuated seasons. Restless for the coming spring and summer months, I often find myself battling the desire to turn winter into a “grit your teeth and bear it” moment. The bitter cold, the early sunsets, the deadness of the land, each can wear heavy upon our tender hearts. After a quarter century of winter slumbers, though, I have come to realize that there is something in this moment of waiting that is both sweet and significant.
Futuristic at my very core, it has always been incredibly hard for me to fully experience a single moment without looking ahead to the yet to come; the very nature of winter rubs against this tendency to push ahead without first pausing. As my mother might say, “winter is for sipping and savoring, for taking life slow and learning to enjoy the simple things.” Thus, over time, winter has become, for me, a time of learning to be patient, a time of resting and waiting with expectancy while also taking joy in the moments at hand. In general, I recommend taking the season in its stead and making the most of it; with a bit of initiative it can really be quite grand.
Winter is often a time for looking forward and looking back. Journal in hand, we can ruminate upon lessons from the year past or build lists of hopes and dreams for the year to come. If we are to live the questions, as Rilke might recommend, we must start with asking them of ourselves. With the changing of calendars, we may reflect with some frustration upon failed expectations or lingering uncertainties. But with a year fresh and new, there is great opportunity to remobilize and live into the questions of yester-year and develop fresh ones with a newfound sense of hope.
As we wait for the coming spring, winter is a wonderful season for cultivating a sense of identity and rootedness that can only come through time spent in solitude. I recall with fondness an accidental lonely winter when, snowed in for several weeks, I was forced to come to terms with the woman in the mirror and explore my hobbies and passions in greater depth than I ever had before. It is one thing to be ourselves in relation to other people, but it is quite something else to ask “who am I when no one else is looking?” With the push- and- go hubbub of normal life, there is little time for us to listen to our inner whisperings. Frosty evenings with a bitter wind, though, enable more space for listening and responding to our deeper selves.
This season is also ripe for new discoveries, whether it’s antique sifting, cultural exploration, or weekend excursions. This year, a friend and I have made a pact to visit New York City every few weeks in efforts to get to know people and places that we would not normally engage with. On many of these excursions, we will likely visit new restaurants, park ourselves in interesting coffee shops, and go to parties where we know few to no one. As two single young women here in the nation’s capital, the thought of spending winter bunkered down does not excite us, and so a space for trying new things will bring life and freshness to the coming winter months. While New York has made the top of my list this year, other possibilities include visits to nearby Pennsylvania to scour antique dealerships, day trips to the Maryland shore for a seafood fix, and even an excursion to an up-and-coming urban design hub in the Northeast.
If we make it such, winter can also become a rich time for food and friendship. After spending hours behind a cookbook (something I greatly enjoy), we can conjure up meals to share with friends and family. Whether it’s a slow-cooked beef roast heated to perfection in a crockpot or a hearty dutch oven butternut squash soup, the foods of this season are rich and flavorful, worth sipping in small, leisurely doses. Film and culture clubs are another great way to bring people together for socialization this season, offering not only a way to build community but also a way to expand one’s grasp of the world at large. Built around a particular work or topic, such groups are a fairly simple way to mobilize people in a time when very few want to go outdoors.
There is much to be learned, explored, and experienced, if we look hard and deep for the places to cultivate richness amidst our chilly respite. What we make of winter is really up to us, and while it can be full of icy frustration, it can also be full of warm fireside reading, weekend movie marathons, and loads of self- discovery. A few additional suggestions on ways to weather the season without lamenting its woes can be found below.
Some Additional Recommendations for the Winter Months
Try out a new book. This is a great time of year for reading up on anything and everything that is of interest. For example, check out Book by Its Cover, a lovely website that previews the pages of visually stunning new books. And, if you’re cash strapped after the holidays, why not consider this a time for exploring the public library?
Geek Out. Develop your interest in indoor gardening, rock climbing, astronomy, studying up on all the hows and how nots.
Get creative. This is a great time of year for letting the creative juices flow. Whether it’s an interest in beading or a fascination with ethnic cooking, this is a great time of year for honing one’s craft.
Do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. So you’ve always wanted to do improv? Well, now’s your chance…
Consider traveling. Although travel is often reserved for the summer months, there’s nothing quite like a good vacation to reinvigorate and refresh in the midst of a lull season.
Make new friends. Getting bored with the change of seasons? Consider branching out and meeting new people. With the slew of names and numbers you’re likely to have in hand thanks to Christmas shindigs, why not give someone a call and set up a brunch date, coffee meeting, or a jaunt to the museum?
Take up an indoor sport. For me, it’s swimming; there is nothing like an indoor sport to keep our bodies in tune. Exercising in the winter not only keeps us active, but also helps us sleep better, think more clearly, and wake up with more energy.