Today, I went for a walk with my husband Ben, which we often do on a Friday morning. We were in for a treat. After a long week of wet grey dark days, we were treated to lush green undulating fields, blue skies and some sunshine coming and going from occasional clouds. We enjoy being mindful when we walk, and today’s experience was so different from last week's.
The main thing that stood out today was the beauty of both light and dark. And seeing the contrast meant we were able to appreciate them both in equal measure. We loved the moodiness and mystery when the sun went behind the clouds as well as the sun bouncing off the wet crops to display fields of vivid green. You may notice this in some of the photos. I went on to consider how this is linked to how we view the darkness in winter.
Going into the dark of the winter and our experience of it depends on how we view it, what perspective we choose. We can see it as a punishment not to have an abundance of sunshine and heat (I for one love the sunshine and heat). Or we can choose to lean into it and recognise the beauty within it. If we follow the flow of nature and learn from it, we recognise the benefit of being still, going within, refuelling. It creates space for us to slow down, snuggle up on those long dark days and nights and take time to reflect. To travel also to the darker parts of us, often those emotions and thoughts that we find uncomfortable, to listen, process and potentially let go or transform. For a long time, I’ve been hearing the following words in my mind and today they made 100% sense “You’ve got to slow down to speed up”.
By gifting ourselves the opportunity to “winter”, we can step into the spring and summer with renewed energy and inspiration. This, for me, is when the speeding up comes in.
How does the season of winter impact how you move through daily life? How will you make the most of the remaining winter to prepare for the coming Spring?
Sending you lots of love to all the dark and bright spaces within each of you.
In love, Lynda xx