Hibernation Season
pic taken at EM on Dec 27, 2025
It’s around 9am Sunday December 28 as I type this post from the winter woods of Empty Mountain. The thermometer reads 2-degrees (-16C). We woke to 3” of fresh snow yesterday morning, the wet & heavy kind that has the pines and firs bending with the weight of it. I have a fresh mug of mint tea beside me and the fire in the wood stove is crackling. And because I wake and rise very early, it’s already the 2nd fire I’ve made this morning.
Life is good.
The hibernation season of winter in the North Country can help distill and clarify things. With the slow down and quietude that rises from winter’s unfolding, a person can become reacquainted with what matters most. Of course there is no guarantee that winter equates to such introspection and reconnection with our own personhood. Many people struggle greatly amid this season in places where winter weather sends and keeps them more indoors. I find it important to remind myself about this diversity of experience. Once again, as I often like to state: nothing is for everyone.
But for someone like me, a writer and poet who loves to read, the season of winter is fertile with the opportunity to read, write, and rest. One of the books I’m reading right now is: Solitude, The Science and Power of Being Alone by authors Netta Weinstein, Heather Hansen and Thuy-vy T. Nguyen. I’m really enjoying it. I started reading this book after I finished Thich Nhat Hanh’s book: Silence, The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise. They pair very well together and speak to a topic I often revisit on my personal blog which I like to call Q&S time, or quietude and solitude.
I find it unfortunate that so many commonly held myths and misunderstandings abound when it comes to Q&S time. Time spent solo and/or uninterrupted time accompanied by quiet can be wholly restorative and regenerative. It can seed and breed creative pursuits and foster a deep inner felt sense of ease and calm. There are many benefits that have opportunity to rise in the realm of Q&S time. Of course we need quality connection time with others as well, but this does not have to come at the expense of abandoning time spent with our own self alone. A balance of both the solo and the social is needed for optimal well-being.
It’s important to know who we are and to be on good terms with our self; to invest in the relationship we have with our own body, mind, and heart; to be aware of how we’re feeling and fairing. Otherwise we situate our self at risk of living on autopilot, stuck in old habits, and being led around by unrealistic views and false beliefs. To be in close kinship with our own personhood requires a certain amount of Q&S time. Without Q&S time, the frantic pace of mainstream society, constant sensory stimulation, information overload, and the forever fray of humans can keep us from knowing who we really are, how we really feel, and what we really want. As the authors state in Solitude: “...as critical as healthy outside relationships are, our number one relationship should be with ourselves.” Amen, sisters. I totally agree.
Winter in the North is especially fertile ground for developing and strengthening Q&S time. It’s part of why I’ve missed being home here in Montana the past five years when we’ve spent the winter months at Deer Park Monastery in southern California. Don’t get me wrong, the near constant sun in So Cal is stellar. I totally see the allure of folks wanting to live in year-round warm sunny climates. But for me, the guidance and teachings that mother nature provides in the season of winter in the North are something I personally gravitate towards and resonate with much more. For me, the year-round sun pressures and promotes the need to stay the whole year in constant motion, which I find personally draining. I appreciate the call inward the snow and cold and dimmer skies provide. I find winter’s downtime essential to my ability to engage more physically & actively in the spring, summer & fall.
Ode and aho to winter, to the season of rest and release and Q&S time.