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“Now comes quiet. All of nature’s signs – the short light, the cold air, the raw emptiness – urge us to turn inward, to leave the outer world, to move toward a state of hibernation.

Now is the season of snuggling under downy covers. Now is the season of cuddling in our warm woolies with a thick book. Now is the time for settling next to the fire with a dear friend and a steaming mug of tea.

The outer world may call us lazy, unfriendly. But we know that this darker season is as necessary as the summer sun. We know that our inner fires require tending, that our spirits need to rest. We understand that just as the roots of our favorite flowers must grow dormant before they can bloom again, so, too, must we sleep.

Let us welcome and protect this quiet, this invitation to let our bodies rest and our souls find their way back home again. Let us shift gears for a while, befriend out inner lives, and remember how to rest, how to move slowly, how to just be.”

Claudia Cummins

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