Days are getting shorter and although the calendar hasn’t marked it yet, winter has begun. With it comes colder days and an often-stressful end to our semester.
The leaves have fallen, animals entered hibernation, it is almost as if the earth calls us to rest. Shorter days mean more time is spent inside, cuddled under blankets next to people you love. Maybe it means gloomier evenings marked by a sadness you can’t quite place. This winter invitation disregards the piles of to-do lists and booked up calendars weighing college students down.
“Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.” – Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May.
How do we cope with the pull of our fast-paced society when nature is beckoning us to rest, live slower and stay awhile?
It’s no secret that this semester has brought unique challenges. From a devastating hurricane to a stressful election cycle, final projects and exams feel like the cherry on top of a cake no one ordered.
All this to say, your feelings are not isolated. A brief conversation with a peer reveals that this sentiment is shared by most students during this time.
There is not much time left in our semester, so my best advice is to manage it well. Do your best at what you can but know that you can’t do everything. Acknowledge that in these darker days you may need more rest. Find moments of stillness and listen to your body.
Finishing the semester out strong doesn’t have to apply to your studies. Maybe for you finishing the semester strong looks like being present in each moment, maybe it looks like waking up each day and deciding to give it a try even though the near ending feels bleak.
Winter is a season many dread and the final weeks of the semester may conjure a pit in your stomach but on the other side of this, winter offers you rest and reward.
“It’s a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order. Doing those deeply unfashionable things—slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting—is a radical act now, but it is essential.” Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May.
