On The Importance of Wintering...

Wintering is a term I learned from the book called "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times" by Katherine May.

Every year, I take time in December and January to hibernate - to be with family, bundle up with tea, eat comforting food, and reflect on the year before.

This year, my Wintering practice was more important than ever...

As many already know, I am still reeling from the unexpected illness and passing of an essential person in my life last October. The shockwaves of that loss still ripples through every aspect of my life, and I know it will continue to do so probably forever. Everything is hard, and I am exhausted all of the time. My face aches from the tears that refuse to ebb their flow, even now.

I want to share this not because I want sympathy or attention, but because I want us to get comfortable sharing the painful realities of life along with the positive and the exciting. We are humans, we are not positivity machines.

In Sword Magick™, I often talk about the energetic balance of life - the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful. It is all a part of our lived human experience - especially right now when many people fear for their lives...people are dying and being killed. Many people are also suffering significant and shocking losses in their families, their careers, their homes. Our personal lives are all aflame above and beyond the horrifying breaches of civil rights and terrifying political climate in our country.

It's ok to be sad. It's ok to not be ok. It's ok to slow down and take a break (even if it's only for 5 minutes). It's ok to centralize your experience and put everyone else's expectations of you on hold while you grieve. While you heal. While you take care of yourself. It's necessary so that you can eventually move forward again. So that we can move forward together.

It's ok to lean on your community and ask for help because we all need it, and many hands make light work. Humans are social creatures by nature, and we need each other. Especially now.

So if you need permission from another human having her own lived human experience, here it is: I see you. I feel your pain. It's ok to cry. It's ok to lean on your friends and your community. It's ok to make art about loss, grief, fear, sadness.

We don't have to be happy all of the time.
It is important to take time to Winter.

Especially now.