WINTER:  A Waiting Time

In past rural farming communities, perhaps the winter gifts of solitude and fallow time were received in resignation to nature's ways.  "Hunkering down" from cold, blistering snowstorms seems quite different from today's inconveniences of a few inches of snowfall. However, it seems human spirits desire some slow time even as our busy, daily schedules keep us going at high, break-neck speed. (Hmm, break-neck might not be just figurative speech!)

Yet we cannot ignore spirit needs in overly active lives. Our well-being is dependent on a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, how can we experience a life-renewing winter?  The following is one suggestion that might bring contentment to long, dark times. 

Get cozy and stare into a blazing fire in a fireplace. (No, staring into a TV screen or computer monitor is not the same!) If a fireplace is not available, just stare outside a window.

What do you see? No answer is needed. Let your mind dwell on nothing. 

Then just listen. To the fire. To a clock ticking. To the wind blowing outside. To your own heartbeat. Listen to pleasant memories. Listen to peacefulness.

Dream a little. The seeds of your potential future are lying dormant in you. What wants to bloom within you?  

Winter can seem to be a dreary, waiting time. Yet it need not be useless. It is fallow time to prepare the soil of our lives for change, new growth and new experiences. Spring always comes after winter.  However, what comes up in spring, begins in winter as a dormant seed lying in frozen soil.

May your life blossom from loving attention and careful preparation done in winter for your thawing dreams.

By B.J. Schlachter, IHM Associate