The Snow is Good
effects of the cold season
DEC 22, 2024
I didn’t leave my apartment at all yesterday, and I never planned to. I sometimes relish in these moments, these days, the times when I feel like I can give myself a break. Times when I can do absolutely nothing and not feel the slightest bit of guilt for doing so. This is honestly rare for someone like me, someone whose brain never seems to shut the fuck up. But that’s okay, I’ve learned to live within.
There are few moments when I feel as if I can actually just stand still, to not think at all, to just breathe. That is what I relish I suppose. Moments of stillness. Moments of silence. There are many moments of this kind of stillness during the cold seasons. When everything seems frozen in place, in time. In this moment. When there are few people outside, when the air is crisp and you can see your breath mix with it.
This season has been strange, not just because the weather has been much less vulgar as opposed to previous winters, but because I no longer feel like I can write in the same manner as I used to. I am no longer sad as I have been. No longer longing. And so much of my writing and driving force to writing and making art has been to work through pain. But what happens when you’ve healed all that you can in this moment? Is there nothing left to create from it? Or is it that one simply must turn to create in a new way? To create a new chain. The sand drifting through my fingers, the spaces in between. The way my body craves the touch of a bright and warm sun. Although I miss the beach and desperately need to go back to that place, I do not cry out for it, I do not feel as if I would die without it. Every season I find that I need to remember myself and find myself again so that I don’t lose it all in these many grains of sand.
Today I went to my favorite coffee shop and ordered two cups of coffee. Both of which are for me. I always tend to spill some on my walk back and now they sit here, stained and spilled and I love the way it looks for some reason.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about many things. The affect of fame, the thrill of being seen, the idea that we are all grains of sand, that our existence is essentially meaningless, despite our innate purpose to live and breathe and survive and move our collective consciousness forward. That each of us has one unique destined path, and that we are destined to live it to its fullest potential and if not, we are to drift along, amidst the grains. Really, these paths are the same. It’s just that one is stagnant and one flows. Both are moving in the same current, but the decision to enjoy the ride or fight against it despite the force of the ocean is what will make or break a chain in this journey of life. Breaking free is never a bad decision, but every choice you make will form a new link. It’s up to you to decide what kind of chain you’re making. Or breaking.
And so my thoughts have brought me here, wondering about the changing seasons and wondering about my place within it all. Wondering why I was born here, why I experience winter and continue to choose to despite my detriments and fears and whatever else that holds me under the snow.
Northerners are different. They are colder, and maybe it’s because of the snow. It turns people ice cold baby, ice cold.
This we all know (probably). But let’s talk about why.
First, I must mention the note of disorders in which the snow may be partial to. For instance, depression, low energy in general, any decline in mood, often referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is mostly due to the reduced sunlight exposure. This occurrence disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm and affects serotonin production. Symptoms of SAD include persistent low mood, loss of interest in activities, increased appetite, weight gain, difficulty concentrating, social withdrawal, and feelings of hopelessness. The body may also produce more melatonin which also increases sleepiness and fatigue. The ol’ winter blues can negatively affect work performance, social interactions, and overall quality of life. A lack in physical activity, having a poor diet, and inadequate sleep can worsen the effects of winter depression.
Coping with this monster can be challenging because the last thing any depressed person wants to do is get out of bed. However, things like light therapy, exercise, maintaining a balanced lifestyle and sleep schedule, going outside and connecting with nature, and maintaining social connections can all help. Personally, I love to take walks, even if it’s just a short thirty minute mindfulness streak, or to the market or on a trail (which is best for connecting with nature) can do wonderful things for your physical and mental wellbeing. If you don’t really feel like going outside into the cold, I understand, it’s daunting, but you can instead turn on some good music and dance around for a while? I think this is a great practice too. Or maybe you could practice yoga. These are my favorites. I love to stretch and I love to dance and I love to walk. It feels right. It’s all about the small steps, doing one thing everyday that helps you. I have found, being a creative person who needs an outlet that welcomes the creative imagination, that practicing one thing that inspires me every day, or at least a few times a week, also keeps my mind out of the gutter and my body up and ready to do something that inspires me.
Of course, if you feel like death and the winter is really getting too you, please consult a doctor or healthcare professional, but I always recommend the natural ways of being and living and breathing before resorting to pills or what not. If it significantly impacts your daily life then I mean go for it. Just remember, our ancestors were not living as we live now, and that's something that is still connected to you.
The seasons of our ancestors were in harmony with the seasons of the earth. They worked through the warm season and took the darker days for deep rest, they celebrated and had fun and living freely, they were not working 9-5s all year round. They were not labeled as disordered for hermiting the winter away, it was and still is a natural thing. It is simply the way our bodies respond to the cold.
I was curious about which places in the world are the happiest, and according to the World Happiness Report of 2024, Finland is the world’s happiest country. Along with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden not too far behind. I was not surprised to find this information as these places are stunning, and probably indescribable in real life. But, all of these places experience a full winter season, if not a longer one. All of these places are in much higher latitudes which would supposedly make the people living here more susceptible to seasonal depression. Obviously, these cultures differ largely as compared to America or the UK or China, which I would put in a category of rat-race countries. Essentially, this causes monumental amounts of stress and chaos that you can only really know if you’ve lived within it. Other happy countries include Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Kuwait, Austria and Canada. Obviously, happiness is subjective, and what makes one person happy, may not exactly make the next person jump for joy.
It’s no wonder that there are no places in America high up on this list. We struggle on a daily basis to find joy in the smallest of things. Our country has essentially dug out and sold everything worth sacredness and validity of joy in this place. It has stripped us of our authentic natures and force fed us chemicals like band-aids that only cause more problems to fester. It has forced us to use every ounce of energy to work meaningless jobs and to dig up more things and sell them. It spits on sustainability and shits in our water supply. It jokes about making better healthcare plans and creating better resources and uses our hope to fuel their monstrous games. It steals our children and sells them for blood. It promotes celebrities like circus animals to feed us more lies and creates stories for bedtime with whispers of demons and devils and fooleries. And it laughs in our faces while we try to survive.
I do not mean to be so cruel, but there are obviously things that we need to connect to, or connect back to. Our ancestors here were either from overseas, murdered or colonized. It is no wonder that so many people are searching for rebellion. But this does not need to happen through violence, even though it will and it has been.
There is a slowness of life that occurs in places like Finland. I have not seen it for my own eyes, but I know it exists. I can feel it when I think of it. Maybe it is because they experience harsh winters that they are able to appreciate life in a way that allows them to listen in the silence. Maybe it is simply a cultural thing and these people worry much less about the material world. Maybe they are more grateful for the natural world that surrounds them. Maybe it is simply that their ancestors were born from the snow, and it is in their blood to enjoy it, to relish in moments of darkness, of stillness. Of the cold. Maybe they can just handle it. And maybe it makes the warmer days all the more worth it.
The cold might make us cold, but we don’t have to be monsters.
There is warmness that always pushes through, whether it be in hot breath, in rosy cheeks, a full belly or good socks, there is always a small thing to appreciate. Something to make life worth living, to keep us warm until the sun comes up again. As it always does, and always will.
