On Wintering

I’m not making any New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I made one. 

Frankly, the middle of a cold dark winter is a pretty crap time to do that. I grew up in St Petersburg, Russia, where the January day is only about four hours long - if the sun is not blocked by the thick, low clouds that is (the summer months do make up for it with the sun pretty much never setting at all but that’s not the point). 

London, UK, where I live now, is not much better in that regard. It’s dark, cold and miserable on most days and I hardly want to get out of my pyjamas, let alone leave the house. 

To set new ambitious goals in the middle of the winter seems, ahem, well, a bit ambitious. I know from experience I’ll never stick to them. 

So I don’t - but that doesn’t mean I don’t dream up some ideas and scribble some loose plans as inspiration strikes - it’s just that I’m not trying to keep myself accountable to them, not just yet anyway. 

In her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times Katherine May writes: “We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again.”

I’ve been leaning into this concept of “wintering” intuitively for a while now, allowing myself to slow down and be more melancholic, not feeling the need to rush into the new year (just a calendar date anyway!) all guns blazing, but it’s only after reading Katherine May’s book that I started doing it more consciously.

If you’ve never heard of wintering, it’s the idea of slowing down and taking time to rest and recharge during the winter season - just like nature itself does. This can involve setting aside time for self-care and relaxation, introspection and reflection, as well as focusing on activities that nourish the mind, body, and spirit. It’s about embracing the slower, quieter pace of life and taking this opportunity to reconnect with yourself. 

Not much might be happening on the outside, but you’re very much planting seeds that will - come Spring - grow to the surface and new and wonderful ways.

So here’s how I’m wintering this January:

* Sleeping in without guilt. I’m allowing my body to rest and recharge as needed. Luckily my son is almost a teenager now which means he also tends to sleep in after years and years of ungodly early wake ups - hallelujah!

* Staying in. I’m a home body on the best of days, but during the winter I truly hunker down. I stay home, read, watch, think, write, organise. I try to get out of the house for a walk in the nature and/or a swim in the pool every couple of days, but otherwise I don’t push myself and just go with what my body is telling me to do.

* Not booking any client work. There’s always be a stray task here and there, and behind the scenes jobs to do, but generally speaking I’m not booking any shoots in the month of January. I prepare for it all year prior, planning for roughly a 10-month earning period, knowing that (a) winter months are naturally slow with client work anyway and (b) I will want to winter and rest after a busy end of the season, otherwise I will burn out. 

I know that come spring, with longer days and the first hint of pink blossom, and all that rest and introspection will flourish into something wonderful. I’ll be full of energy and hope for the new beginnings - just as nature intended. I will solidify my goals for the year, make plans and schedules - but for now, I rest.