Winter thoughts

Winter is here, along with its emotions. Many may have not noticed it. But it is here. It does not start on the 21st December. That is an average day for the solstice. The solstice of the middle of winter. The beginning is on Halloween. Or to call it by it's real name in Gaelige, Samhain. It marks the beginning of winter. Here, in the Pacific Northwest, winter is before our eyes. In Ashland, Grizzly Peak has become invisible in the morning, hidden by the clouds.

Some suffer the winter blues. SAD. Cabin sickness... Besides the physical reasons, there may be some others. One of them is not recognizing the spirit and meaning of the season. It is the time for introspection. If posible, for staying in as much as we can. All animals hibernate in some way or another. In the plants, the sap goes down to their roots. It is the time to go down to our roots. Direct our gaze inwards. Meeting with ourselves, a meeting we must have, sooner or later.

Winter is the season related to impermanence, to death. Samhain, or Halloween, a Celtic celebration, is the one in which we get in touch with our Ancestors, who are in the Otherworld, and honor them. This issue makes some people uneasy. We don't like thinking about our own death. But that moment will arrive. When we are born, we cannot avoid our entrance to this world. And when we die, we can't avoid leaving it. Our time in this world is somehow a preparation for the next. Life never ends, its forms are innumerable. We usually take death as the opposite of life, but it is not so. The opposite of death, is birth. Life in this world is the span of time between birth and death. Life is always there. What is most important is our love of life. What is most important is to love.

The ability to love is not limited to romantic love. We speak about brotherly love, motherly love, and so on. What is common to them, is love. It is like water. If we put it in a round container it will take the round form. If in a square one, square. But roundness and squareness are not properties of the water. The same with love. Our ability to love will take any of the shapes. Romantic, brotherly, patriotic, motherly... as long as we can love.

Winter is here. The time for gathering round the fire, with the people we love. To share the stories we love. To drink the tea we love. The wine we love. To love watching the leaves flying away from the trees. Listening to the music we love. Reading the poetry we love. Writing what we love to write. Eating the stews we love... Winter is a good time to love, and... can you be sad when you love?