Wintering

It is winter! Some parts of the world are feeling it more than others. Winter is a time for slowing. Not something we do easily in our culture, but something I have been working on. It has not come easily to me either. A work in progress, we might say.

This holiday season I focused on slow; on wintering. I let go of the "shoulds" and settled into a quiet, peaceful pace, with just as much love and gratitude in my heart as I have always had, just without the frenzy. Some things didn't happen. Christmas cards were not sent. The few gifts that I still send did not find the post office...yet. They will. My point is that the important things happened, but the hectic pace that usually accompanies the winter holidays didn't. It was beautiful! I highly recommend it - slow and letting go.

The publication of both books has hit a bit of a hiccup...but that too will be addressed and corrected - but slowly. Both books will be printed, circulated, and read. Both books will be as close to perfect as possible and released with love. It just takes more time than I could have ever imagined...but I am approaching this slowly, with gratitude for the lessons, and cultivating a modicum of patience! Not at all easy for me.

All that said, I want to thank you for checking in here and wish you, each of you, a very blessed holiday season, regardless of how you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate? Blessed winter! Be safe and stay warm.

May the spirit of gratitude, and slow overcome you as we head into the New Year.

"Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximising scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible."

~ Katherine May: Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

(With thanks to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids)

[Art: Anna Speshilova]