Winter (dis)Contentment - You can’t hygge without gratefulness.
Let’s see. How did I come to this latest epiphany? Feeding sheep? Knitting socks? Oh! That’s right; I was seriously considering resurrecting the YouTube channel Nic started for us ages ago, so I thought I’d check out what other farm gals are posting. Something Shaye Elliot from Elliot homestead said in a video about winter struck me. She said something along the lines of, ‘Winter is the time when we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors.”
In Montana, where the icy wind blows and the roads freeze and melt and freeze again, the onset of winter comes with some amount of dread for most people. In general, I hear delight for the two days per year we get fluffy snowman-quality snow. But the other 300 days of winter (hardly even kidding) I mostly hear people trying to survive, counting down until June when the snow stops, some years.
Isn’t it just like us humans? We work hard and play hard all summer long. On a farm, that means watering, weeding, rotating pastures, and turning compost in between trips to the river. And for what? So we have nutritious food to eat all winter long and have supplies for beautiful handmade goods over cheap imitations. By the time Autumn comes, most of us gardeners and farmers are worn out enough to appreciate the first frosts as a signal to slow down. Somewhere inside, we know we need the rest. And yet we are quick to loathe the season for it.
There is no bad weather, only bad gear. Go enjoy the winter, friends are helpful.
I think some of this has to do with the results of modernization on our culture. From about the time of the industrial revolution, society has shifted less and less with the seasons. Before that, even shopkeepers and business men could pace themselves differently in the colder months. But when factories popped up, labor did not slow simply because the days got shorter. There were orders to fill, galldarnit.
Now, the vast majority of people keep the same hours year-round, rushing, rushing even when their bodies scream at them, ‘I’m running out of Vitamin D! You must slow down!’ Instead, they are given pharmaceuticals to get them through. “Just keep moving. Next!” The stress on our bodies has taken its toll, not to mention the poisoning we receive on top of it from food, water and most of the products on store shelves. No wonder the clouds move in and the sun goes down early and you find us moaning and groaning.
So what are we to do? We can’t go back in time, nor would we want to. The great Covid tp shortage reminded us all of how attached we are to our modern conveniences. Many of you are also attached (or financially strapped) to your jobs. You have to go, go, go. You have to make a living. I know. I don’t want to be discouraging. I do think there is hope.
If you have a full-time job working for someone else, the ideas below can still apply. You’ll have to be intentional or make some sacrifices to make it so. For example, you may be tempted to take time off of work in the summer to enjoy the weather. What if instead you saved any leave you might have or afford for winter time? Use it to create some margin for rest in your weeks or use it to go collect some Vitamin D somewhere sunnier. In summer, you have long days and more energy. You can work during the day, play in the evenings and weekends and your body may very well keep up. In winter, that’s unsustainable. Instead, take a Friday off here and there to move slowly. Use a sunny weekend to ski or hike. If you plan project for the weekend, plan on getting less done than you would on an July weekend and start and end your day slowly. Stop for tea. It’s okay. Your life is more than your productivity and your productivity is not worth sacrificing your life.
The Danish word Hygge caused a fad a few years ago. If you missed it, Hygge is an untranslatable word that entire books have been written to explain. In short, its an attitude or atmosphere that allows you to enjoy the season you’re in. It is associated with cozy blankets, candle light and mugs of deliciousness in winter. About a decade ago, I found out the hard way that if you stick with that version of Hygge you may enjoy your winter, but you’ll get fat and happy doing it. But all the cozy novels and warm drinks will not make you happy when March comes and winter hasn't left. Coziness treats surface symptoms for a while, but without gratefulness winter blues will always catch up.
Coziness treats surface symptoms for a while, but without gratefulness, winter blues will always catch up.
If you’re going to cuddle by twinkly lights, or however you hygge, you will have to do it with thankfulness that this season is here rather than a begrudging will to survive. In the absence of gratefulness, your heart remains open to discontent. And discontent is happy to lead the way for bitterness, envy and depression. But how? I remember some of my hardest winters when I could not muster one bit of thankfulness for those dark days. That’s such a hard place to be. Do try this with me though.
Think back to summer. What we remember looking back is the sunshine and the warmth, but there is also so much work and play. Often in summer, we hit the ground running. For us Johnson, that mans we water and feed/move animals, water and weed gardens, as well as doctoring of babies and milking of mamas, etc. We’re eager to get the work done so we can enjoy playing with what remains of the afternoon and evening. There are parties and cookouts, beach days and mountain adventures. So much. Whether work or play, these activities add something to our lives: nutritious food, wood, wool, meat, restoration to our bodies and souls. And now in January, we get to say, “Thank you Father, for the seasons. Thank for a Winter of early nights while I use up the nourishment summer provided, may it last until the spring. Thank you for delicious food. Help me to prepare it well. Thank you for the produce of summer work. Guide my hands to steward it beautifully. Thank you for what I have. Help me to hold it with open hands and an open heart.”
Opposite the effect of industrialization on winter is the effect on summer. If you are having a hard time enjoying winter, I have to ask if you used your summer well. Did you go outside enough? Did you collect sunshine? Perhaps winter is hard to bear because you do not have fruit to enjoy. Even if your 8-5 job means that you stock up on locally grown foods or set aside well-earned PTO for a day of snowshoeing, these are the blessings of seasons. But if we hide inside in the air conditioning or resent the work, or even the playing in the heat, of summer then we may find ourselves joyless and miserable once the Christmas decorations are put away and the sun doesn’t come back for several months.
These are the days we get to enjoy. Enjoy them. Borrow a French cookbook from the library. Take up a craft that results in beautiful, useful items. Pick up an instrument and practice. Pause your life and meditate on Yahweh and what he has done until gratefulness sprouts in your heart. It is with thanksgiving that you will enter his gates and in God’s presence there is fullness of joy.
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