Every journey has its twists and turns. Every year there is a winter before the spring. Are you stopping the journey at the yuck, the resentment, the dark, before even experiencing the spring and flowers at the other end?
I want to validate you for just a second…of course the yuck sucks. It’s not easy to sit in the winter and experience the blistering weather. Society has created a belief that it should be spring and summer all the time so when one experiences a winter phase or moment it’s even more uncomfortable, lonely and often is shoved to the side in the box labelled “not ok”. I have experienced many winters myself but the ones that passed the quickest with beautiful new growth when it passed are the winters I sat in the cold cuddled up to keep myself warm feeling and doing the work to get through it.
Remember spring always comes even after a long winter and with spring there are fresh blossoms, bright greenery, and soil ready to be planted. The same goes for the human soul that is going through the winter. In the dormant cold and dark times under the surface things are regenerating, brewing and waiting for the conditions to shift so growth and blossoms can occur. So, if we know it will come, why are we so quick to bring in artificial light to hide the dark? Because winters don’t feel good. With winters come under the surface shifts. You can see the shifts and sometimes they are so cold you can’t even feel them. But what’s occurring under the surface is stories that are no longer serving you, they are being let go of to make space for a new one.
Often its these past stories that are being held onto so tightly that have become enmeshed into the identity that create the hold and cause the pain. It hurts to let go of what was to make room for what is. Also, the yuck itself may have become a crutch and something others recognise you as that to loosen its grip to bring in spring would mean that new growth would have to happen as the old is no longer there to grab onto. It would need to finally be released for the blooms to emerge. Often this is the scariest of all. Being in control of letting go to bring yourself into spring time again.
But what if the winter times shifted from a feeling of resentment to a feeling of respect? Respecting the cycle and know that spring time is on its way. With respect we see the need, the process and ultimately the beauty of it. To respect your own process. Know what support you need to be in your winter and gain the tools to soothe during the dark times.
I have experienced many winters in my lifetime. Over time I allowed the winters to happen vs pretending they didn’t exist. You know the saying you must go into the dark to see the light. Well it’s the dark that seem to hold tight grips on us because suppressing it takes so much energy that eventually theres nowhere else to go but into it. But the dark offers so many gifts. Gifts that can be felt when venturing through but are seen in the new blossoms when the light shines again.
You can’t avoid the winters for ever. You can’t run from them or pretend they are not a part of the cycle. Get support. Learn the tools to hold yourself. Communicate your needs. Go into the dark to witness the winter and come out into the light freer, lighter and more complete.
