Winter

I have been doing a lot of thinking and reading and musing about winter lately. One, it's winter. Two, this is a challenging transitional season full of a lot of inward focus and less outward blooming. So, the focus works on both the allegorical and literal levels. 

Two major influences for these musings are Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak and the less creatively named Wintering by Katherine May. 

The takeaway is that all seasons matter - we need them all, and they all carry their own lessons. 

Palmer says that winter is clarity. Everything's out there in its stark nakedness. It's hushed; it's quiet. Winter has its own beauty, and it's a crisp one, sometimes desolate. 

In winter, all the growth is on the inside, under the surface. Roots grow deep, and trunks strengthen. The world is healthier for winter, but all of the external growth that comes as a result happens in other seasons. Yet, without winter, the external outpouring of energy of the showier seasons could never be.

We get social messages that our lives should be all summer all the time - all fun, all productivity, all blooming. But there is no summer without winter, and the needs and growth we experience in winter are profound and essential. 

What are your lessons in the clarity of winter? This winter, I am taking in the truth that blooming all the time is unhealthy. It is healthy and necessary to rest and grow deep roots and gather strength. That outward stillness has a beauty all its own. That's the beauty of this winter to me.