Home for the Winter..

I am finally unpacking my suitcase for real, properly, for the whole Winter..

This year has been a big whirlwind of wonderful gatherings where I have stretched myself physically and spiritually, more than I ever have before. I realise now that it has been to my limit.. I even went beyond my limit with the conference I attended last weekend.

The call home was so loud, but I had made a commitment so I kept it.. a little to my detriment health wise, but I know it did some magic too. I am home now, eating well, making broths, going to bed early and being here for my family, recovering and restoring.

Winter, Herstorically, is my least favourite time of year, there are many challenges for me in it.. being cold, dark, layers and layers of clothes, SAD (seasonal affective disorder), footy season (yes that is a downside for me.. raised by a footballer I spent most of the freezing country NSW winter weekends sitting on the sideline of a footy game, and then waiting for the celebrations to end very late every Saturday night, then having footy on the TV all day Sunday as my Dad recovered on the couch.. the sound of the crowds and whistles take me back to the strange world I was raised in and I don’t like it).

And how much things hurt when you bang them when they are cold.. like whacking your hand on some furniture hurts so much more when it’s icy! And that goes for the emotional hurts too.. they are triggered in the stillness of Winter and I am ricocheted into the depths I need to go to for the healing to happen. This, I know, is a positive, though it doesn’t feel like it at the time!

The reflective energy of this season is something I acknowledge as an important part of the cycle now. We need this inward time to restore and reflect, figure out what has worked for us and what hasn’t. Just as we need the bleeding time of our menstrual cycle, to let go of what no longer serves and to have the visions for the future. We need the Winter to do the inner work of our souls in preparation for our blossoming again in Spring.

In creating ways for me to embrace this season and time, I have some special things I save just for Winter so that I can not only endure it, but enjoy it, and be with what is.

The most appealing thing is rest! I don’t work very much in Winter. I will sometimes do a little workshop locally, but no big trips away unless it’s a family holiday (hopefully to a sunny island- I know that’s cheating). This keeps me excited for Winter to come.

I have knitting and crochet projects that I devote long hours to. Not only does this make it a very productive time in creating treasures for others, but it keeps me in a calm and receptive brain state that opens me to messages and dreamings in my sphere. I don’t follow patterns, I make it up as I go, so there’s not too much thinking involved. This is also a really healing thing for me to do to tend to those woundings that have come up.. being present with my feelings and just staying with it as I weave. I love to look back on what I’ve made and remember where I was when I made it, and how I felt at the time, and where I am now I have finished it, seeing the healing and evolution that has taken place.

One of my Winter weavings and Willow… (and some Spring and Summer weaving too.. this was a big one)

I make soups a lot. Soup is one of my favourite things, this makes Winter yummy and I always have something nourishing to eat, which is something I forget to do when I’m working or busy.

Making spaces beautiful, so it is inviting to be at home in them.

One thing I realised last year in Winter was that I have no Winter clothes.. I lived in denial that it was coming, or that it would last very long and that it was even worth buying Winter things because I’d soon be happy in a summer dress again. So I suffered in layers and layers of thin inappropriate Summer clothing, shivering and complaining about the cold! So I decided to give this warm coat thing a try.. and thus found my most fun Winter survival mechanism.. shopping for beautiful warm cardigans and coats! I have several now, and I think I need some more!

I dream.. I dream up what’s next, I dream for others, I dream the healing dreams that tend my wounds and inform me of the path ahead.

I write all this now as a reminder, a prayer and an affirmation.. as my wound has been opened, my most sacred wound, that all is right, and it is a Blessing to be here now, knowing that I am doing the work of Winter for all my relations.

Blessed Be

Love Talulah xx