So I wrote yesterday’s post on Friday about how much I was hating winter.
Things have changed since then.
My venting about winter made me feel guilty about complaining (one of my goals this year is to exactly NOT do that, but here I was!)
And I went about Friday with that mindset. Especially because I had a lot of walking to do for my errands that day. That made me super tired from walking in all those layers, and sweaty with heat on the inside. But my skin still complained about being cold. Overall, I was not feeling great. I even had to take a 15 minute catnap to catch up from my labours of the morning.
And then Saturday came around. I started the day with leaving home early to make it to my morning yoga class. I left before I needed to because I was ready. And I figured, instead of spending time on my phone I might as well walk longer in the sunny morning light. That was a great idea. I was happy to reach my yoga class after a bit of ambling around.
Later we drove 90 kilometers north of the city to meet with friends in a small town called Mono…first for lunch, followed by a walk in the nearby park through the trail to a lookout. Now Mono has real winter. The kind that is lovely and beautiful and enticing. Exactly the kind that I have not seen in Toronto in atleast 2 years…all snow everywhere, icicles hanging from buildings…the peace, the soft cold breeze brushing against the skin…the magic of winter…oh it was so very stunning and soothing. The kind of winter I needed- not the messy city winter with icy sidewalks and grey coloured snow.
I needed true winter. My soul needed true winter to feel the season. To get centered into the season that was all around me…
Of course the company of my best of friends who I spent the afternoon with, and my family added to the magic of the day. We left just as the snow started coming down. The forecast of a deluge had us leaving in a hurry to avoid messy highways on our way home.
And then the magic of winter showed up right on our doorstep the very next morning…
Toronto was hit with the fluffiest of snow inches high overnight. Walking and shoveling and looking at the beautifully decorated tree branches brought such joy to my heart. While shoveling, I was completely satisfied with life in that moment- my body was working strong, the morning light was lovely on my skin, the snow was of the fluffiest variety, the nature was at its most stunning, and watching the critters take playful joy in it was the most soothing sort of happiness one can only feel in the serenity of nature.
The tracks in the snow announce who has walked the white carpet, and it becomes a game to discover and identify the tracks’ owners.
And stepping into virgin snow- well, that is the quickest possible way to bring about the happy child within anyone who walks it with some presence, and spirit of playfulness.
I think this was the universe reminding me why I don’t hate winter…not really.
I love winter in ways that is more complex and beautiful than why I love any other season. It’s a harder season to love, but it’s beauty is there…when one is ready to open their eyes and sit in the stillness. There is whole world alive and relishing this beauty…and we humans have to become nature again, to relish it just like our other fellow creatures.