The Deep Freeze

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer.” ~ Albert Camus

No relief from the cold is in the forecast for North Carolina any time soon. With temperatures dipping into the teens at night, and barely reaching the low forties during the day, many have retreated into their homes and into themselves.

During a different cold spell a few years ago, I complained to a friend about the freezing temperatures, and her reply to me was that the earth and the plants needed to rest and regenerate. After doing a little research, I indeed found out that many plants cut off their water intake and go dormant during the winter months. In this time of inertia, they get the opportunity to regenerate within.

As of late, many of us have been cut off the traditional sources of energetic feeding, and they have come to feel isolated and forgotten. With the job situation deteriorating, and average incomes suddenly becoming less than average, our connection to our supply of “water” has been interrupted. Not only that – weakened by economic hardship, many relationships have cracked under pressure and fatally broken down. Many are facing the long winter alone and without the means to weather the elements.

We have become so programmed in our thinking by society and advertisements, that we can no longer see the difference between what we have and who we are. The two are so closely associated in our minds, that if we don’t have enough, we feel that we are nobody worth caring for.

The first reactions to having our external supply of “nutrients” and energy cut off are self-pity and anger, but once those stages have run their course, we realize we still exist, we still feel and we are still loved – by others at least. Each of us has hidden potential which often remains untapped until we need to come up with new strategies to survive. It’s through hardship that we find our true friends, and it is by going within that we learn how to function more effectively without.

The winter might be long and harsh, but spring will come around again; when the timing is right, our connection to external supplies will be restored, and what we have discovered during our dormant phase will help us blossom even more vibrantly.
Winter is a time to burrow inside of ourselves and learn who we are; it’s a time to discover the depth of our potential and the identity of our weaknesses; more importantly, it is a time to realize that our growth is not hindered by an unexpected cold snap.