You hit the nail on the head with "you have to engage."
The good news is that when we're outside, our mitochondria absorb the near infrared (NIR) wavelengths of the Sun, which even bounce off the snow or grass NIR then gives us the master antioxidant - subcellular melatonin, which helps give us a regenerative sleep - for a better mood, and a better life all winter!
Wishing you a speedy recovery! I love the idea of winter as healing. Time in books, time spent allowing ourselves to rest, and time with family are all so needed and feel more accessible when the weather is colder. Best to venture inward at times when venturing outward is daunting.
quote: “If you choose not to find joy in the snow (or any kind of change) you will have less joy and the same amount of snow (change).” And sometimes it takes awhile; for me with the loss of a relationship. I am only now starting to find the joy, but it is there!
Years ago I was sent to Gdansk, Poland, for work for an entire month -- in January. My coworkers were very hospitable and I went out to restaurants and bars nearly every night. And while many people have cars, it was also a very walkable city. I didn't rent a car and instead walked nearly everywhere that entire month. One evening while waiting to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing I noticed a gaggle of young women wearing miniskirts and heels under their thick winter coats (miniskirts in below freezing weather! ah, youth!) and marveled to a coworker about how everyone just...keeps going out despite the weather. He said something like, "Well, if we stayed inside just because it was cold and snowing, we'd be inside 9 months a year. So you just dress up and go out."
I think the rise of air conditioning -- not just in homes but also in cars, when I was kid basically nobody had air conditioning in a car -- as well as the (relative) cheapness of heating homes thanks to better insulation, cheaper energy prices (compared to the 1970s, that is), automatic timers on home heating/cooling systems (I remember when we first got one in the late 1980s and we could, gasp!, have the heat turned on 30 minutes before everyone woke up...amazing!) and so on mean that everyone has a much higher expectation that everything is perfectly comfortable 24/7/365. And I don't excuse myself from that crowd, either. But it does make "going outside" harder, both physically and psychologically.
I'm stealing this quite and adapting it to the Pacific NW: “If you choose not to find joy in the rain, you will have less joy and the same amount of rain.”
This is how I try to live and what I aim to teach my kids. Thank you for the reminder! And wow that's a lot of snow!!
This is the first winter that I’ve really enjoyed. It’s a bit about mindset and practically, about walking my dog:) As they say in Scandinavia, “there is no such thing about bad weather, only bad clothing.”
You hit the nail on the head with "you have to engage."
The good news is that when we're outside, our mitochondria absorb the near infrared (NIR) wavelengths of the Sun, which even bounce off the snow or grass NIR then gives us the master antioxidant - subcellular melatonin, which helps give us a regenerative sleep - for a better mood, and a better life all winter!
Get out there!
So sorry to hear about the surgery!
Wishing you a speedy recovery! I love the idea of winter as healing. Time in books, time spent allowing ourselves to rest, and time with family are all so needed and feel more accessible when the weather is colder. Best to venture inward at times when venturing outward is daunting.
quote: “If you choose not to find joy in the snow (or any kind of change) you will have less joy and the same amount of snow (change).” And sometimes it takes awhile; for me with the loss of a relationship. I am only now starting to find the joy, but it is there!
Years ago I was sent to Gdansk, Poland, for work for an entire month -- in January. My coworkers were very hospitable and I went out to restaurants and bars nearly every night. And while many people have cars, it was also a very walkable city. I didn't rent a car and instead walked nearly everywhere that entire month. One evening while waiting to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing I noticed a gaggle of young women wearing miniskirts and heels under their thick winter coats (miniskirts in below freezing weather! ah, youth!) and marveled to a coworker about how everyone just...keeps going out despite the weather. He said something like, "Well, if we stayed inside just because it was cold and snowing, we'd be inside 9 months a year. So you just dress up and go out."
I think the rise of air conditioning -- not just in homes but also in cars, when I was kid basically nobody had air conditioning in a car -- as well as the (relative) cheapness of heating homes thanks to better insulation, cheaper energy prices (compared to the 1970s, that is), automatic timers on home heating/cooling systems (I remember when we first got one in the late 1980s and we could, gasp!, have the heat turned on 30 minutes before everyone woke up...amazing!) and so on mean that everyone has a much higher expectation that everything is perfectly comfortable 24/7/365. And I don't excuse myself from that crowd, either. But it does make "going outside" harder, both physically and psychologically.
I'm stealing this quite and adapting it to the Pacific NW: “If you choose not to find joy in the rain, you will have less joy and the same amount of rain.”
This is how I try to live and what I aim to teach my kids. Thank you for the reminder! And wow that's a lot of snow!!
This is the first winter that I’ve really enjoyed. It’s a bit about mindset and practically, about walking my dog:) As they say in Scandinavia, “there is no such thing about bad weather, only bad clothing.”
Side note: every Scandinavian I've ever met who moved someplace hot (Vietnam, Arizona, Dubai) complains about the weather :-)