Finding solace in the wild

If you have read the winter issue of my ‘rooted’ journal you will know that we’ve been in a bit of a gloomy, dreary weather spiral for the past three months or so. It certainly feels longer than that. When even I crave the warming rays of winter sun, there is something seriously wrong with the weather. I love winter in all its frosty, snowy, misty magic. But this unusually warm and muggy weather… It feels more like the beginning of spring. And to be honest, I wouldn’t mind that all too much. While my body is certainly not well rested and ready to get out in the garden and work with the soil and plants, my soul is. Oh, it so is. But, the early signs of Spring have only just appeared here in the northern hemisphere and it’s going to be long two months until the days are finally longer, warmer and brighter again.

I know that a lot of people struggle with the darker season and this year I am one of them too. Just the other day I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up three hours later, on the brink of sunset. I am bone tired, unmotivated and always on the edge of slipping into that sad hole of the winter blues.

I will enjoy the rest of winter but friends, I can’t wait for bursting emerald forests, delicate spring flowers and the first fresh veggies from the garden…

In the meantime, here is what I do to shake off the doom and gloom that currently resides in my tired bones:

Connect with Nature

This might be fairly obvious but: Go outside. Daily. Rain or shine.

Touch the crusty bark of the old wise oak trees or lay down on the soft moss covering the forest floor. Breathe in fresh winter air, go for a hike or short walk, sip your tea in the garden, wrapped in a blanket. It will not only wake you up but a lot of studies actually confirmed that a simple 20 minute walk in nature can heavily reduce the level of stress hormones in your body. I don’t need a study to know that hugging trees and touching plants will make me feel more calm and centered but there you go.

Look for hidden Treasures

You might not want to believe it but there is life, even in February. Sure, it’s not as bright and flashy as a summer garden but it is there if you’re willing to look.

Crocus, snowdrops, liverleaf or the first daffodils peaking out of garden beds. Bright green garlic and onion sprouts making its way through the soil. Maybe even the first seedlings on your window sill.

I like to dry lavender and goldenrod in the summer for dried winter bouquets or press flowers and leaves and make specimen frames that brighten up my home when it’s too early for fresh flowers. Propagating a few houseplants does the trick too! Bringing the outside in is always a good idea.

Close the Tab. Turn it off. Pull the Plug.

Burn your things, pack your bag, move to the woods and don’t ever return.

No, just kidding. But seriously: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by modern technology and the constant noise it brings into your life: turn. it. off.

Be unavailable. The world will not end because you’re not reachable for a few hours.

Write Letters instead of texts and find joy in the slow ways of snail mail.

Knead a dough by hand. Make something from scratch.

Draw something on paper instead of a tablet.

Switch bright lights for candles.

If you’re not into the idea of living there permanently, visit the old ways for just a little while and see what wonders it does for your soul.

The Trees by Mary Oliver

Do you think of them as decoration?

Think again.

Here are the maples, flashing.

And here are the oaks, holding on all winter

to their dry leaves.

And here are the pines, that will never fail,

until death, the instruction to be green.

And here are the willows, the first

to pronounce a new year.

May I invite you to revise your thoughts about them?

Oh, Lord, how we are all for invention and

advancement!

But, I think

it would do us good if we would think about

these brothers and sisters, quietly and deeply.

The trees, the trees, just holding on

to the old, holy ways.

Live for the Hope of it all

It used to make me sad but now it fills my heart with joyful anticipation whenever I look through last year’s photos of flowers or the forest. I use them as screensavers or hang them up on my walls to remind my heart that soon we’ll live in a sea of green again. Until then I’ll live for the hope of it all.

What gets you through the dark days of winter?