The Dark awakens, but we fear not;
The Night ascends, and we rise up to meet it,
For Night is the time when the Light is brightest.
Stars glimmer in the deep dark;
The moon is more radiant than ever;
We shine brighter, too, in contrast.
Winter is the sleeping time, the learning time,
The resting time, the recharging time,
The woodshedding time, the re-dedication time,
The focus time, the deep-work time,
The quiet time, when Time Herself is frozen.
We emerge from this time in the spring;
We stretch and reach, we test new wings.
We expose our pale skin to the New Sun,
And we fly off to practice our new gifts –
Winter’s gifts, which have taken a full quarter-turning
For us to unwrap.
Are you tired of me singing Winter’s praises yet? I am an unapologetic and fearless Winter cheerleader. Alright, so I’m a deep introvert and I love being alone in the dark. What can I say?
We’re getting back into the “normal” part of our lives now; we’ve gone back to work or school, and old habits and old ways of thinking are now reasserting themselves. It’s very easy to make resolutions and live by them when you’re home and you don’t have the normal stressors and frustrations, when you’re not falling into the same old routines. But once you get back to the real world, it’s hard to keep it up. It’s mega-super-excruciatingly hard. Trust me, I know.
I’m not gonna give you a pep talk – you can find that anywhere. I’m going to tell you to cut yourself some slack, and stop trying to change everything all at once. Take one step at a time, and once you tackle that, take the next step, and then the next.
Out in the world, we are usually surrounded by people who don’t necessarily have our best interests at heart.
Coworkers who might be playing politics; neighbors who might think and live a little . . . small; families that just don’t get us at all. We move through situations where we’re viewed as adversary, weirdo, black sheep, or worse, and constantly have to juggle too many expectations that we never set for ourselves.
The only person on this Earth that you have the power to make happy is you. The only thing you can really control is how you respond to things. This planet was not designed to be a paradise – remember? This planet was set up to be a challenge, where our souls can learn to transcend whatever challenge is presented – and baby, we must all be in friggin’ grad school at this point. Holy shit.
So have patience with yourself, and know that your struggles are happening because you are in a process to become smarter and better. You are clearly doing well, you have made it this far – you’re seeking out mentors and thinkers, trying alternatives, looking for information on how to better care for yourself. This is way more than most people are doing.
Enjoy the process, and keep taking one step forward at a time. You will get where you are going, you just won’t have to feel like a train wreck while you are on the way.
Winter is the ideal time to make incremental changes to your life, the little tweaks that add up to big progress. Try things, get used to things, make adjustments, move on. Nothing has to happen now now now. A dear and very wise friend once told me, “You don’t have to do anything, at all, ever, except at some point you have to die. That’s it.” Choose happy. Every time. As long as we’re on the Path of Joy we will always end up exactly where we need to be. Follow that. What makes you happy? Go there.