It’s snowing again in Detroit. A sign that we are still in the midst of winter. Fortunately though we are now halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, which means spring is on the way! 

I also feel like I am somewhere between winter and spring, and I’m not just talking about where we are seasonally this time of year.

In “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times” UK author Katherine May discusses the idea that winter is not just a season from mid-December to mid-March, but also a time when we experience personal difficulties that find us any time of the year, and that the best way through any winter is with rest and retreat. 

At the end of 2024, Katherine May posted on social media that her book was back on ‘top selling’ book lists. As I was overjoyed that others were finding this book, which is one of my favorites, I had a shocking revelation- I was in winter, and I had been for the last 12 months. 

2024 was a hard year. It started with a fall down the stairs in January, breaking my foot, and ended with major plumbing issues at my house in December. The in-between had so many ups and downs that it felt like I was living on a roller coaster of emotions all year.

Reconnecting with the idea of wintering was serendipitous, especially as we were entering the actual season of winter at the end of the year. Every December I reflect on the past year, and obviously I was not feeling great about 2024 with everything that happened. I was also feeling hard on myself since all of the intentions I planned at the beginning of January did not happen. 

I wasn’t reading. I wasn’t writing. I stopped practicing yoga. I didn’t complete the home improvement projects I wanted. I wasn’t making any of the changes I knew I needed to be making in my life. My to-do list was never ending, with items getting added but none being crossed off. 

Being reminded of the idea of ‘wintering’ was an aha moment. Of course I’m not accomplishing anything- I’m experiencing winter! Winter is not the time of production; it is the time of rest, retreat, and hibernation. Which for humans, is easier said than done.

In hard times, there are always thoughts of how we “should be.” If we only act with perfect response, it will all pleasantly work out for us. But that never ends up being what actually happens. We are bound by limitations- things we have no control over, our bodies betraying us, and what we truly have the capacity to handle in any given moment. 

To make it through both my personal winter and actual winter, I needed to take the lessons of “Wintering” to heart- I should be resting. I need to retreat. I should cozy up under my heated blanket, with hot tea, and read. I should nap if my body says it needs sleep. I should move my body in gentle ways with yoga. But above all, I should be kinder to myself for needing all of these things. 

We should not have summer expectations in the midst of winter. It is not going to be sunny, warm, and pleasant; it is going to be dark, cold, and sometimes brutal. The best way through these dark days though is to embrace it. Hunker down until the spring thaw emerges, plant the seeds of your future now, and wait for the sun to once again shine down on you.

While I wish for spring to come sooner rather than later, both personally and seasonally, I plan to react to the current winter conditions with rest, warmth, and kindness- for myself and others, who may be wintering in ways I do not know about. I look ahead to those coming warmer days and patiently wait for them to arrive.

Have you read Katherine May’s “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times”? Let me know below!

You can purchase “Wintering” through my Bookshop.org bookshop. Please note I will receive compensation for your purchase through my shop.