We got too much snow this week and now it’s piled up steeply on both sides of my driveway. It makes taking a stroll along our country lanes feel treacherous. I’ve also had too many social obligations, work pressures, and my house needs attention and effort. This is in addition to planning for holidays, keeping up with friends and family, and taking care of daily tasks. I’m feeling tired. I know it’s because, where I live, this is the darkest time of the year. My sunshine levels are low. The apparent jolliness of the world around exacerbates the very real darkness that permeates everything and everyone in the northern hemisphere. We are in the season of advent—waiting for the light to return. This is an ancient human experience that has occurred annually since time immemorial. The best way to get through it is by simplifying. To do less not more. To be gentle and compassionate toward ourselves. To be still. But that is very hard! It’s the opposite of what our culture encourages or what we think we should be, which is warm, together, loud, lively, cheerful. And when we do allow ourselves to be quiet, feelings of loneliness and dread can be too much. It’s a fine line between too much and not enough, and ultimately what we need is a different way to look at both. Even words can change the way we think about things. Sparkling up a home and decorating for the holidays has a different feeling to that of scrubbing and scraping. Social obligations are in truth friendly invitations. And the snowy landscape really does look like a winter wonderland.
