Winter Calls for Depth
As winter progresses, the air and the light change. Temperatures drop. The winds pick up and the clouds dump more snow. Winter begins to settle in and show her might.
Winter is not something to merely be endured. In the depths of winter, we are graced with displays of beauty and brilliance that are not available during other seasons. Winter holds a bittersweetness to be treasured, for the gifts it brings with it. If we allow ourselves to embrace the depths of winter, to learn to pause, we can reap the rewards that winter has to offer.
Winter Calls for Stillness
The depths of winter call for stillness. Snow blankets the earth in the northern hemisphere, forcing us to be still even though the world wants us to keep moving at breakneck speed.
The depths of winter is the period to sink deep into our inner worlds and simply be. We might wrap ourselves in warm layers or seek the warmth of fire, both of which require us to be still. We can let our eyes rest on the warm glow of a candle that helps to ignite our inner flame and provides an entrance into our inner world. We can dare to resist the temptation of distraction that pulls at us.
The depths of winter call for us to examine our own inner depths. The cold of winter forces us to focus inward, to ground ourselves in inner truth and determination. To help us see that we have more strength than we give ourselves credit for. It’s tempting to hunch our shoulders and look down, to shelter ourselves from the bite of winter. We might forget that sometimes it takes an act of sheer determination and willpower to brave the cold and all that it entails. To find an inner drive that is stronger than the wind that drives the snow. We might also find that we have the courage to be still.
Frigid temperatures force many indoors, imposing solitude for some. Perhaps the colder temperatures are meant to force us to bundle up and move deliberately, or to seek comfort in the company of others, those who are dear to us. Winter is not the time for meaningless or shallow encounters. Winter demands depth.
Winter has a way of helping us to see where we are unprepared to move forward. Winter is the season for pausing before moving or speaking.
The snow muffles movement so much that the smallest sounds are amplified. Our words carry more weight; the same way our feet make deeper impressions in layers of snow.
Each word we speak will weave a thread to our future and each step we take creates a path for the days ahead. Our words will travel far, carried on the wind, unencumbered by the foliage of the other seasons. Our breath becomes visible to show us the weight of each exhale.
Perhaps you can stop and take a few deep breaths outside and ponder how you are making each breath count.
If you could always see your breath, how might that change the words you speak every day?
Winter Calls for Truth and Intention
Do your words resonate with truth, the way the blades of ice skates cut into newly formed ice? The sharpness of the blades ring with a truth that can only be heard when the air is crisp and clear, and the strides are sure-footed and intentional. The truth must be coupled with a good sense of balance to slant the edge of the blades into the ice. Timid words and steps cannot cut through the ice to etch their marks; the ice will not allow it. It demands truth and intention, tempered with balance.
Do your steps break the surface of frozen snow, reverberating across the landscape and creating echoes? Do your boot-clad feet crunch against the millions of freshly fallen snowflakes in your path? How might your walk change if you knew that every step you took was carrying you toward your future? Would you walk more boldly, more deliberately? Winter is the time for deliberate movements, without rushing to new endeavors.
Winter can help us to see our truth, if we can resist the urge to succumb to distraction. Sometimes the truth is staring us in the face, and we have been avoiding it. And we are only able to see it once we become still. Our minds and the world will claw at us to keep moving, to maintain the status quo in the name of comfort.
But there is something deep within that grows restless amid all the distractions, that wants to connect to the truth. Once we connect with our truth, we might find that it can begin to crack us open for new beginnings to germinate in the coming months. We can begin to prepare our outer world to reflect the truths that the winter reveals. We can create space for deep roots to flourish, to anchor us in the coming months so that new endeavors will bloom as light and warmth return with longer days.
With each truth spoken, we are growing deeper roots for our future. With each pause and deliberate movement, we are warming the soil of the days ahead. We are sheltering our futures from the storms ahead, even as we dream of brighter days alive with blooms.
Sink into the depths of winter and let it enrich you. Warm yourself with inner truth and layers of intentionality. Let the winter winds usher you toward new beginnings in the spring.