It is that time of the year in my part of Canada where the days are cold and dark and the snow lingers longer each time before it melts. The beautiful autumn colours are becoming a distant memory as the transition from autumn to winter is fully underway. After the heightened activity and beauty of the warmer seasons, I find that, for me, the dark part of the year brings a sense of sadness and weariness with the weakening of the sun and increasingly bare trees. Although lately I have been making an effort to find the positive in this seasonal change and applying the wisdom of nature to my own life, below are a few insights I have gained that I would like to share.
Instead of dwelling on the loss of foliage on the trees and seeing a bare, depressing landscape come into being, I have become inspired by the resilience of the deciduous trees in my region, which gets very cold winters. A tree shedding its leaves gives it an advantage in coping with the chill temperatures by taking the nutrients out of the leaves and pulling them into areas behind the outer bark that can be insulated from the freezing temperatures.
In the dark and cold seasons, the leaves of deciduous trees become a burden, and the tree sheds the vulnerable leaves in order to focus the few resources winter provides in areas that are of most importance for the tree’s health during challenging times. Seeing trees in this way reminds me that it is important to reflect on how I am spending my energy and make changes as needed to ensure that I can also thrive in challenging conditions.
One of the activities that I enjoy the most during summer and autumn is to observe the birds, animals, and insects that live in my yard and neighbourhood parks. As winter draws closer, the number of wildlife diminishes greatly, giving the landscape a feel of loneliness. There are only two bird species that winter over in my hedges: Junco’s and Cardinals.
The Junco’s come at the end of October, after most of the other sparrows have left for the season. I have come to appreciate these small birds. They are such a joy to watch as they go about their day. The few winter birds and animals that I see out daily are a reminder to me to be thankful for the little things in life—the simple things that often get overlooked and forgotten among the busyness of everyday. They are easy to take for granted, but they add so much to life.
While the dark days of winter will always be a challenge in one way or another, it is comforting to realize that it is this way for all forms of life at this time, particularly in my northern climate, and one can look to nature to find inspiration to help relieve the bleakness of this time of year in order to bring in some light by way of a new perspective on the season.
The Heron and Rose 