Winter: The Empty Time That Replenishes

What can we learn from our winter? To rest, first and foremost... and to let things be. Replenish your powers for the outward thrust of Spring.

Snow days always feel like a gift to me, a personal gift from winter — 24 precious hours that are suddenly free for the taking. When I wake up, the silence is so loud I can't help but notice, and when I go to the window — two feet of snow! A gift: A day with no push, no worry, nowhere I have to go, nothing I have to do. My car can't get out, and neither can anyone else's. I can just purely be — make a fire, sit there, watch the sun sparkles dance off the snow and onto my ceiling. Maybe I'll make some cookies and maybe I'll write my sister and maybe I'll just sit some more... it doesn't matter. What matters is that I take this chance to go deep into myself, to rest, and to hear my heart whisper something quiet, definite, and wise, such as — "Don't say one word about it."

Read the complete article by Elise Hancock, originally published in Meridians, Winter 2001