Preparing for Winter [melanie]

It’s almost here. Winter. Where I live in the South, winter generally lasts from November through February, spilling just a bit over into March. But since March carries with it the hope of spring, we’ll go ahead and toss it into the post-winter category, rounding the number of dreary months needing to be endured down to four.

It’s important that you understand I’m not a fan of winter. The cold is a big part of it, as is the ever-growing darkness. You can also throw in the frenetic and demanding spirit of the holidays, the bleak emptiness of January, and the climactic melancholy of my birthday which falls soundly on Valentines’ Day, year after lonely year. But let’s not go there right now. After all, we’re just brushing along the first whispers of the season. No need to dive headlong into absolute depression.

With this level of pessimism going into the season, it is absolutely vital that I seek out every possible method of preparation for the coming days. Winter will still attack me, but if I plan it right, I will see its assault coming in time to grab some of my stockpiled resources and fight back. Or at least to get a running start toward my cave of last resort.

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but this is the first year it has occurred to me that preparing for the impending season of dread might be a way to thwart it. Nearly every year, I rest 100 percent of my sanity on the magical threads of hope. “Maybe this year won’t be as bad as last year,” I say as I click my heels together three times. I grin and bear it as best I can, and as one would expect, outside forces determine the severity of my winter depression. Sometimes it’s mild. Sometimes it’s nightmarish. But what can I do about it? Move to Miami?

This year, I’m thinking differently. Giving it a little attention, I find I’m able to make a list of things that I will need to make it through the winter with as few scars as possible. I wouldn’t try to weather a hurricane or an earthquake without adequate preparations, so why should winter be any different?

1.Stop making excuses and buy one of those Seasonal Affective Disorder lights you’ve always been curious about.

It seems silly. To buy an expensive lamp and sit by it for hours a day, expecting it to enhance mood. But studies show it works, and I need to get over myself and just buy one. Consider this winter a testing ground. If it doesn’t work, donate it to folks in northern Alaska. (Honestly, how those guys survive one winter is utterly beyond me.)

2. Make a list of comfort foods.

Things like … chili. With chopped up onions and shredded cheddar cheese. Yes. I can feel the love just imagining it. I’ve always wanted to make chicken chili (tomato-based, not white), and never have. I could eat off of it all winter! And I can add things to this list and every couple of weeks try a new dish. Let cooking be your frosty day companion. Solid advice.

3. Go ahead and use the gas fireplace.

This is not the time to conserve. It’s always a fight in my home this time of year. How cold does it really have to be before we can justify using the gas fireplace? This year I suggest using the cash I’m saving on dropping gasoline prices to pay the natural gas bill. This is my well-being I’m talking about here. It’s okay to pull out all the stops.

4. Embrace creative projects.

I’ve wanted to get back into maintaining my painted journal and pull out my brush and watercolors. And here’s a confession. I also love coloring. In coloring books. I should fill the house with my Crayola-colored pages. And it might not be a bad idea just to brainstorm a creative projects list. Maybe there are some other things to help me over the hump of the cold days when I’d rather not leave the house. The goal is to light my creative furnace and to embrace the challenge of entering into projects that have a beginning, middle, end so that before I know it, March has blossomed.

And what would my winter survival guide be without the crucial spiritual element?

5. Seek the Lord.

Winter generally means more time at home. Which, if used efficiently can also mean more time to read, more time to meditate, more time to pray. I constantly yearn to spend more time actively seeking intimacy with Christ. Here is my opportunity. Four solid months of it if I so choose.

So let’s see what we have so far. Light. Food. Warmth. Creative work. Intimacy with Christ. I’d say that’s pretty much the basics of life, wouldn’t you? And suddenly, what’s this odd sensation I feel? I hesitate to say it, but I think I feel rather optimistic. Could it be that winter doesn’t have to remain the vicious bear I’ve always made it out to be? Could it be that simple planning is the key to thriving rather than just surviving?

Time will tell. Maybe this will be the year that finally strips me of years of seasonal discrimination and unnecessary depression. Maybe all it takes is just a little bit of preparation, seasoned with hope.