Understanding the Need to Slow Down
Life moves in seasons, and we are often unprepared for the inevitable arrival of winter. Katherine May experienced a personal winter that began unexpectedly just before her fortieth birthday when her husband suffered a ruptured appendix. This medical emergency forced her into a state of constant vigilance and fear right after she had left her job to face the pressures of a new book deadline. This period of wintering was not a choice, but a sudden fall through the mesh of everyday life into a cold, slow-moving reality.
Wintering is a fallow period in life where we feel cut off from the world by illness, grief, or major transitions. We often view these periods as personal failures or embarrassments to be hidden, yet they are as natural and inevitable as the changing of the physical seasons. We strive for a life of eternal summer, but human experience is naturally prone to sudden drops in temperature. Whether it is the slow fading of a relationship or the sudden shock of a job loss, everyone encounters a winter eventually.
The wisdom of surviving these cold periods lies in recognizing that they are not a permanent end, but a necessary phase for transformation. May learned this early in life after facing undiagnosed autism and a debilitating bout of depression at seventeen. Through those experiences, she discovered that wintering blanks a person, providing a stark white canvas upon which to build a new version of oneself. Plants and animals do not struggle against winter; they adapt, hibernate, and husband their resources to survive the lean months, offering a model for human endurance.
To winter effectively, we must invite the season in rather than resisting it. This involves the radical act of slowing down, seeking rest, and allowing ourselves the space to step away from the busy world. By acknowledging our winters instead of hiding them, we find that they are not the death of our life cycle, but its crucible. Choosing to shed our old skin during these times allows us to remain soft and responsive to life until the spring returns.
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