It is winter proper; the cold weather, such as it is, has come to stay. I bloom indoors in the winter like a forced forsythia; I come in to come out. At night I read and write, and things I have never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of the year’s planting.
~ Annie Dillard, author ~
It is winter proper. Snow covers the ground and graces every branch and bush. There are no blooms. Only silence.
Did you know that the reason silence sees so noticeable after a snowfall is because air gathers between the flakes so there is less surface for sound to bounce off of, in effect, muffling sound? And, of course, people and animals are less likely to be out and about in heavy snow.
Silence is a gift of snow. 
In the silence and the cold, I frequently experience a desire to hibernate, like the bears that roam the woods around us. I want to curl up someplace warm to sleep, dream, read, and write.
The snow is inspiration to both do nothing and to do everything. And, a fresh snowfall evokes fairy tales and magic.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere where the days are shorter, the long nights add to that intuitive need to hibernate.
It’s a time to come in to come out.
Especially after the busyness of the holidays, even without the ability to party in person, or gather with other family members, you were probably busy making plans, shopping for gifts, wrapping, and trying to gather with family and friends via the internet.
Now, in the silence, in the cold and the dark, it is time to draw inward in order to become more aware of you–your dreams and desires, your new understandings and perspectives, your losses and gifts. Journaling is a great way to honor and celebrate this silence of the season and its accompanying desire to hibernate. It’s a time to take out your journal and see where your pen wants to take you.
With the outer landscape less welcoming, it’s an opportunity to go adventuring into the inner landscape, especially with the New Year.
So, fix that hot beverage. Find a comfy space to curl up with your journal and pen. Turn the page and begin to write. Let the pen and thoughts take you where they will.
Who knows what you will discover there? Or how you will bloom?
