SETTLING INTO A LONG WINTER REST
Reader
Winter has surely arrived in its fullest here in Virginia.
We've just received the biggest snowfall since the Snowstorm of 2022, which added a bit of trauma on top of my life-long dislike for winter and snow.
I woke up on January 3, 2022 to the biggest snowstorm of the season, a power outage that lasted 5 days, a sink full of dirty dishes but no running water, and a body that ached from head to toe, including one of the worst headache I’ve ever had (which I would later learn was covid, ugh.) I felt like I’d been hit by an eighteen wheeler.
That was a hard start to my year and I wish I had handled it better.
The combination of being sick plus the challenges of a 5 day power outage – in which my husband was barely home to help me – sent me spiraling into my winter depression. The inability to rest and slow down brought heavy feelings of suffocating anxiety, like a blanket of dark gray clouds overhead. The weight caused me to toil instead of rest.
So, beginning this year, when I heard of the expected snow I definitely had to resist the pull of anxiety triggered by memories of our last big storm three years ago.
As an HSP, I feel changes in my environment — especially the weather — in my body. Intensely.
There’s just something about the onset of cold weather, when skies are gray and nature is dormant and brown. I feel it in my body and soul!
So, for someone like me whose body literally craves the sun's light and heat…
The bad news- We still have three more months of limited light, cold temperatures, and undesirable weather conditions .
These shorter days and longer nights affect my energy and mood. This means three more months battling seasonal depression.
The good news- We have the HOPE of increasing light for the days to come in the next 3 months– each day with more available light. To this I say, “Hallelujah!”
My lesson through the Snowstorm of 2022 was that I needed to slow down. I recognized that I had some deep emotional and mindset work to do. God used that situation to show me I needed to build emotional resilience.
I also learned that although I struggle with fewer daylight hours during the winter season, God has included the winter and its period of seemingly lifeless dormancy in the cycle of seasons for a special purpose. This is true not just for the Earth's cycle of seasons but also our human cycle of needs as well. This winter season is a period of rest, restoration, and preparation for a new growing season for our physical bodies — including our spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects.
This past year as I've been a part of a group of Highly Sensitive Person sisters, I've learned that it is typical for HSPs to need more time for transition; therefore we declare our new year to begin in February not January, allowing us to use January as a transition month to “off-board” from the holidays and ease into the new year. This winter season I’m placing more boundaries that create a much better transition before the momentum of new projects begins.
After an amazing season of “harvest” -- with the completion of some HUGE projects at the end of last year, I’m excited to be welcoming the winter season with rest and restoration in a way that I never have before. This change is a result of all the mental and emotional work God has done in me over the last three years.
As a creative, taking a pause often feels like a challenge because once I settle down from all the busyness of the holidays,my creative brain fires up, ideas begin to form and my instinct is to dive headfirst into starting something new.
BUT… I know my physical body and my often fragile emotions really need the transition time of rest. ( if you too are an HSP, you know!)
So how do we accomplish this undertaking
… of transitioning
…of resting
… of allowing restoration of our body and soul to take place?
For me this looks like—in no particular order:
- Preparing for significant snow- better than before- mentally, emotionally, and physically– the contrast of the result was HUGE!
- Re-establishing my periods of white space– blocks of time I leave “blank” in my schedule that allow me the freedom to be spontaneous or just more relaxed in my activities.
- Spending time with God in prayer and asking HIS plans for me.
- Allowing time to be creative.
- Dreaming and continuing the planning process of new projects for the new year to come.
- Reevaluating and reestablishing any wayward rhythms
Regardless of how winter rest might look for you, I encourage you to approach it with grace. When things around you look desolate and your body feels depleted, get cozy and lean into the Lord. Find refuge in his provision
Wishing the happiest of New Years my friend!
Melissa
You can find further encouragement on the subject of dark seasons from my recent devotional in the Advent Series, The Lord My Light .