Winter has never been my favorite season. Breaking out the coats long put away, feeling too cold or too hot but not often just right, the sprinkle of Atlanta snow that threatens to shut us in for days. The long, slow, post-New Years stretch towards warmth. Sometimes a fantasy of year-round beautiful Georgia fall days plays in my mind.

In nature, animals and plants become dormant. Bears load up on nutrients, make a den, their metabolic rate decreases, and they wait. Certain plants continue to have growth in their roots, patient for spring to thaw the ground so they can be among the first to shoot up.

In the human world, I unpack the winter blankets and load up on firewood. I prepare to spend more time inside, shielded from the elements. Is there something to be gained from these months of stillness? From the natural slowing and solitude that occurs?

Winter might also be a time for us to go inside metaphorically. To explore our own hearts and minds in a way that only stillness can allow for. To examine the routines and patterns of the year gone past. To allow our minds to wander with imagination about what is to come.

It’s no coincidence that resolutions are made in January. The first month of each year in our calendar is named after Janus, a Roman deity with two faces, one looking backward and one looking forward. Symbolic of many of the dualities in our lives, including the past and the future.

Can we use this winter to slow ourselves, and allow our roots to dig in? To examine, individually and collectively, where we have come from, and where we are headed? Gather your slippers and hot chocolate, and allow for the quiet to take over internally as well. You might be surprised at your transformation come spring.

I recognize that not everyone reading this has a safe space at home. If you are thinking of hurting yourself, hurting someone else, or you are being abused, please reach out: Georgia Crisis and Access Line 1-800-715-4225, Georgia Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-33-HAVEN.

Warmly, Stephanie