It seemed apt to post this on the first day of winter, and assure you it’s not too late to embrace this season.

Maybe eight to ten years ago I was challenged (via podcast, def a life theme) to notice what I was complaining about and to try for a week to refrain from the negative words/thoughts/verbiage on that subject. I noticed in myself complaining about weather. It was nearing winter. Oof. It was tough. And interesting. For one, I noticed everybody else complaining. And secondly, I felt less angsty, awful about the weather. Huh.

I’ve tried my best to keep the practice. And tried not to be too much of a teaching zealot about it. Sorry, bestie. When I saw this title, I thought I could up my practice by finding more things to embrace about winter in particular, and the word MINDSET on the cover (with endorsement by CAROL DWECK) sealed my buying deal.

I found it fascinating to learn about winter societies around the world; the author lived through the Polar Night (a two month period where the sun never rises). She explores the hygge (Scandinavia), koselig (Norway), gezellig (Netherlands), gemütlichkeit (Germany), cèilidh (Scotland & Ireland) to find the cozy life and friluftsliv (Norway) for the “open air life.”

Examples from all around the world help inform how to winter well. And I was thrilled to see my town (Holland, Michigan) in the chapter on “Clearing the Way” for the town’s snowmelt sidewalks and streets.

Philosophical, psychological and practical this is a great guide for humans to treat a quarter(ish) of the year with more … love. From the last page:

In some ways, loving winter, hating winter, it seems like a small thing. What does it matter if some people want to grumble through the season? Is it really so bad if some people feel grumpy and down when it gets dark and cold?

But every day, we have the chance to embrace the world in front of us. We can celebrate what’s there; find the delights; seize any chance for joy, big or small. When we write off winter, we resign ourselves to settling for crumbs of happiness; we decide it’s okay to be miserable for one to six months of the year. We let the little unpleasantries, the pinpricks of cold and the annoyance of wet and the fatigue of dark grind us down without realizing it.

Reclaiming winter is a chance to find intentional joy; to let ourselves anticipate and rest. It’s an opportunity to notice, with awe and wonder, what is really in front of us. It’s a practice in talking about those delights; sinking into coziness, ritualizing the mundane….(pg 265)

My word of the year was DELIGHT so this resonated. I don’t know how many days I have left, nor how many will be literally sunny or emotionally sunny. More awe, wonder, and delight? Yes, please. Whatever the weather.

Insightful, hopeful, cozy, energizing. Five stars.