❄️It's time for wintering...
again.
We’ve been together consistently for almost a year.
👏 We’ve defined why we’re here
📖 We’ve told ourselves new stories
📱 We’ve texted
👋 We’ve quit stuff
🏠 We’ve built a house
🛑 We’ve p a u s e d
👟 We’ve not gone streaking
📈 We’ve shunned positivity
👥 We’ve found our people
😔 We’ve MUSTurbated
💥 We’ve searched for glimmers
🪞 We’ve avoided distortions
And we’ve consistently walked into a new season of life
Tel Aviv walking, 2023
And it’s that time again.
The weeks I dread from mid-November to mid-March when the days are shorter and even though it’s not coldcold where I live—I’m not a fan.
This stretch of time, she types r e a l l y looking for that glimer, offers an opportunity to slow down and live more intentionally. It's a time to focus on what matters and create a sense of urgency and excitement for spring.
Last year, I invited you to join me in wintering, offering ten suggestions for a personalized approach. These ideas were applicable to everyone, whether experiencing winter or simply setting new goals, regardless of location or season.
This winter, however, finds me older, perhaps wiser, and certainly busier. With this shift in circumstance, I've come to embrace a fundamental truth: if you have more than three priorities, you effectively have none. A realization which sparked me to streamline my 2024 approach to wintering, focusing on fewer, more impactful goals.
Last wintering I wrote a book.
A manuscript which I now know is actually three distinct works (there’s that number again!). I’m committed to spending 2024 wintering dedicated to the gradual process of separating this single project into a trilogy.
👉 Shorter days + the urge to cocoon = 3 stand-alone books by mid-march.
Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius…or so Carla hopes.
I invite you on a 16-week winter journey that's anything but hibernation.
🥶 First, let’s embrace the art of slowness.
In a world that glorifies hustle, it’s an act of rebellion to deliberately slow down. This winter perhaps experiment with the Japanese concept of ma—the appreciation of negative space and p a u s e s.
Join me in engaging in s l o w reading: choosing a complex book and reading just one page a day, savoring each word and idea. Or practice niksen, the Dutch art of doing nothing purposefully. Let’s stare out the window for 15 minutes each day and allow our minds to wander freely.
Surprising to even me with my lack of artistic skills, Im looking forward to creating a s l o w art piece over next 16 weeks, adding just one brushstroke or element each day. When we make an effort to mastering slowness, we cultivate patience and depth, qualities that will serve us after the seemingly interminable wintering ends.
🥶 Next, let’s wild our indoor world.
I can never seem to keep indoor plants alive. For the next 16 weeks I’m taking on the simple goal of adding low-maintenance plants around my townhouse and plan to experiment with a small vertical garden using a macramé plant hanger.
My goal isn't to create a perfect indoor garden, but to celebrate small victories as I keep them alive through the winter. This whole endeavor, I hope, will provide a sense of growth during a time when the outside world seems dormant.
Whether you're cultivating humidity-loving tropicals in your bathroom (that’s a nope here), embracing the meditative practice of bonsai (I could be IN for this one) or simply tending to a collection of succulents, the act of caring for plants is a way to stay connected to nature's rhythms throughout the dreary, colder months.
🥶 Finally, let's cultivate unusual connections.
As tempting as it is to turn down invitations because it’s cold and dark—winter doesn’t have to be isolating and can be an opportunity to create connection in and new and unconventional ways.
Host a series of silent dinners where guests communicate only through gestures, facial expressions, and written notes (never done it; sounds intriguing). Start a mystery gift exchange in your community, leaving anonymous, thoughtful gifts for neighbors along with clues to pay it forward. Or, organize a skills swap where people each get 5 minutes to teach others their hidden talents or special skills (I’m excited about this idea!). These unique interactions challenge our usual social patterns and help build new relationships.
my ‘alive for now’ succulents
As we embrace slowness, ‘green up’ spaces, and create unusual connections, we're not just passing time until spring. We're redefining our relationship with winter itself.
I used to count down the days from the ‘fall back' to the 'spring forward,' which worked—but was nothing more than keeping my eyes on a goal I had no control over. It was a passive way to endure rather than engage with the season.
This year, let's take these shorter, darker days—these next 16 weeks—and see who and what we can shift by the time they end. I'm kicking things off with a COME DRESSED AS YOUR FUTURE SELF (and behave like her the whole time) brunch.
You?
What small, significant step will you take to transform these wintering weeks into a time of intentional growth?
Well, you've given me a lot to think about. What comes to mind right away is to write every day. I have the tools – I mean, what do you need these days, other than a keyboard? I have the time and energy. So. Even if it's just 100 words a day, and even if no one sees those words but me, I will practice writing daily.