A Hazy Shade Of Winter

If we are weaving time in a tapestry, let the looms move slowly or thread the embroidery needle with care. Many fight the natural biorhythms of the seasons and with everyone’s busy lives, push through with the to-do list or flog themselves because they didn’t get through the to-do list.

What if, instead, you think about the meaning of winter and rather than fighting it, fall back into a warm down comforter and stay there? Hibernation is a way for creatures to survive cold, dark winters without having to forage for food. That’s what Pizza Pockets in the freezer are for.

What if you said “Take me out, coach” and gave up make-up and hair straightening and pants with a waistband? What if you got to that Billie Holiday I just don’t care-ish place? For those of us who have felt like we have been continually pushing the boulder uphill and are exhausted, it is liberating to just let go. Maybe just yell “Fore!” for anyone in its path downhill.

You have permission to just be quiet and still and even sad if you want to. There is no need to snap out of it. Choose a restorative yoga class instead of spin class. Get off social media and watch “Dr. Zhivago,” “Out of Africa,” “The Way We Were,” or “Harold & Maude.” Go to the beach and listen to the geese, a sound both hopeful and melancholic.

I have a cat that likes to sleep on a chair on my back porch and I always leave a nice cushion out for him. I can watch him endlessly snoozing, not a care in the world. Hence, I suppose the origin of cat nap. We are in a world where we are constantly distracting ourselves, so what would happen if you stepped out of it and curled up in a chair and got quiet and centered?

I have never been one who is great at meditating, but just adding in a daily ritual of lighting a white candle at sunset and invoking positive energy has had an incredibly soothing effect. When the outside noise is turned off, you may find that in the silence it is your own voice that is talking to you. It may sound unfamiliar at first, but after a while, it will hum at a certain vibration which will feel like home. It will ask you not to stay away so long next time.

Our culture is all about sowing and reaping all the time. The agrarian system had a plan where farmers, like the land itself, would go fallow in the winter and just rest. One of the reasons I left LA was because I missed seasons. As pleasant as warmth and sunshine is, I really didn’t want it all year. Each season has a different landscape and wardrobe and pleasure, made only lovelier by the contrast with the other seasons.

Right now, I am very happy to embrace the quiet and solitude and weave my personal tapestry in slow motion. To just let it be. I am reacquainting with my inner voice over a cup of earl grey tea and listening without judgment. And if all the quiet feels just a bit too much, I will play Yo-Yo Ma and let the strings lull me into my personal hibernation.

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