Winter’s Wisdom

I welcome deep winter. I welcome the dark, the wind, and the lingering cold. People complain about it. Those conditions nudge me inside. Time to settle in. Time to take a closer look, to cleanse and purge. Time to identify cause and effect, to examine preferences and to follow the voice within.

Winter’s spaciousness allows me to better hear the soft voice within sharing the simple directions:

Do the dishes.
Chop the wood.
Read the words of that wise one.
Find your own wise words.
Listen. Listen.

I carry groceries on my back up the narrow trail home, weaving my way up the mountainside beneath the hemlock, pine and hardwood canopy, leaning around witch hazel branches along the forest floor. I experience a different sense of value and awareness towards the earth’s bounty as I lug my sustenance slowly to its final journey.

I welcome winter. Permission to rest and nest. The simple joy found in following the sun on woods wanderings and on low perches beneath windowsills, scratching my cat’s belly. Opportunity to witness the driving winds in my landscape, awakening to the unconscious forces contained there.

I bear witness to dawn and dusk’s changing light patterns. In February, there is a greater sense of the gentle transition towards spring. The change is subtle but constant. I open myself to harmonizing with the grand rhythm this friendly Universe offers—a natural tempo that winter teaches.

Jen Deraspe, owner of Nurture Through Nature, is a holistic retreat facilitator and practitioner of The Work of Byron Katie. She lives off the grid on Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, Maine. www.ntnreats.com, (207) 452-2929.