What Does Winter Mean To You?
A time I never thought I’d come to appreciate
Winter used to be my least favourite time of year; I was never one for being able to handle cold weather and I found winter to be such a gloomy and depressing time of year.
One thing moving to Canada has taught me is to embrace winters.
Yes, they are freezing cold (-34 degrees at times!) but what I love is how bright and sunny the winters are where I live.
The appeal of winter began to slowly draw me in. The frozen bodies of water, the snow-covered trees, and the white-capped mountains; all began to seem so magical to me.
I have always been into symbolism and recently have been delving deeper into this.
Looking at what winter symbolizes embodies the reasons why my relationship with this season is changing.
Winter is a time when animals hibernate, flowers are no longer in bloom and trees shed their leaves in order to release the old to create space for the new.
It represents the cycle of life.
The fact that we are shedding older versions of ourselves in order to bring in the new.
But with winter this process isn’t done in an overt way. It is a quiet almost secretive transformation, like the roots of plants and trees replenishing beneath the surface, so do we renew and transform in our quiet and introverted way.
Winter also symbolizes introspection, when we dive deep within ourselves and reflect on the year that has passed.
Because winter is a dormant phase of our lives we can allow stillness to aid our introspection, it is this introspection that creates our reclusive evolution.
During this slower period of our lives, we can take deep breaths and prepare for the year ahead of us.
Change is afoot and when life is passing by in a rush it is challenging to prepare for what may be ahead of us.
When we slow down we can trust the work that we have completed, the things we have shed, and the contemplation we have done, and use these as tools to prepare for what comes next.
This period of our lives doesn’t last forever, just like everything it is temporary.
As the seasons shift so do our energy levels and mindset.
We have to ride the wave and go where the winds take us.
Thank you for reading this article, I would love to hear what winter means for you!
Here are some great articles I recommend reading:
If you have a green thumb you will love this article by Marta Henriques
This is a beautiful read by Hermione Wilds Writes
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