In my regular reading this week, I came across this:
“Winter sucks. It's dark, it's cold, and it's too dry. Unless it's too wet, which is an entirely other hellscape. But maybe it's just me. After all, I was born and raised in a desert where anything below say, 65°F (18°C) is a terrifying frozen nightmare akin to Dante's 9th circle.”
Couldn’t have said it better.
I understand that I live in the land of climate privilege (so say the mighty warriors), but all experience is relative. Unless your Winter revolves solely around Après-ski, Winter is about getting through it. Surviving it. Waiting for the Spring.
As much as I lament the season, we can’t just write off the roughly 90 days a year consumed by it. It’s a quarter of the year. A quarter of our lives.
When much of life was agrarian, the season was spent in preparation. But now that we can press a button and produce or livestock arrives, already cooked via DoorDash, we have to act differently.
Quiet times can be contemplative, and I came across this great article on the human experience of “awe.” The best quote from the piece is from Psychology professor Dacher Keltner - “Almost everything that humans care about - religion, art, music, big ideas, taking care of young children - Awe is close to it.” Seeking out an awe-inducing experience is a good way to stave off the winter blues.
https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2023/winter/science-of-awe-psychedelics/
Lastly, read the short story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1936. It is one of Hemingway's masterpieces and its heavy, heavy symbolism is perfect for the dark season.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:22f7b1d7-7a80-46b5-8d9d-f38b0d41fb7e
Always glad to find someone else who loathes winter as much as I do. Interesting post!