As the days shorten and the cold settles in, many of us instinctively brace for winter. We talk about “getting through it,” as though the season is something to survive rather than experience. The quiet, dark evenings and slower pace can feel isolating—but what if we reimagined winter altogether?
In her reflective and inspiring book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, author Katherine May invites us to view winter not as an interruption to life, but as a sacred pause within it. She writes about the importance of stepping back, of allowing ourselves to rest, to listen, and to repair when the world grows still. Wintering, as she describes, is both a literal and metaphorical process—a time for deep inner work, when healing and renewal begin quietly beneath the surface.
The Art of Wintering
As an art therapist from @listening_tree_studio, I find this concept deeply resonant. Winter naturally mirrors the inward turn that many of us experience—an invitation to slow down and tend to our inner worlds. In my work and personal practice, I often see how creative expression offers a bridge between our inner experience and the outer world. Through art, we can process emotions that are difficult to name, explore the textures of solitude, and find beauty in stillness.
Winter gives us permission to create without pressure or performance—to play, to explore, to make marks simply for the sake of presence. Lighting a candle and gathering art materials on a cold evening becomes a quiet ritual of care. Watercolors might echo the softness of snow; collage could capture the layered, reflective nature of the season. Even in the absence of color and light, creation itself becomes an act of warmth.
Leaning Into Stillness
When we engage in artmaking during the winter months, we honor the natural rhythm of contraction and expansion that all living things experience. Just as trees rest before budding again in spring, we too need this period of pause and renewal. Creativity thrives not only in bursts of energy, but also in these slow, quiet spaces where ideas are incubated and intuition deepens.
Art allows us to meet winter with curiosity instead of resistance. It transforms long nights into opportunities for reflection and turns solitude into connection—with ourselves, with our senses, and with the gentle unfolding of time.
An Invitation to Embrace the Season
So this year, rather than pushing against the darkness, what if we welcomed it? What if we saw winter not as something to escape, but as an opportunity to reconnect—with our creativity, our emotions, and our sense of self? Through art and mindful presence, we can reframe this season as a sanctuary—a space to rest, reflect, and rediscover what truly sustains us.
Winter is not a punishment. It is an invitation.