Added on February 22, 2014 yooperdiaries

Finding Center

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Winter Reflections from Tom Vajda…

Winter frost on the window can be a source of inspiration with the right perspective. (photo by Ron Caspi of Soullenz Photography)

Center. This is the time of year when it is easy to lose the center and wobble out of control in one direction or another. We wake up when it is dark, go to work when it is dark and when we return home, it is dark again. We walk our dogs in the dark, shovel in the dark, shop and ski in the dark. You get the idea here. It is wearing to function almost completely in the darkness of the winter. This leads to many of us becoming winter agoraphobes, only emerging again in the springtime when the eventual return of sol to the northern hemisphere frees us from our underground bunkers, carved out in the snow where we have been frozen since the avalanche back in December. We hunker down in survival mode and do only what is needed to make it to warmer days. We allow our center to shift and and our universe to shrink and we begin to travel in uneven orbits. This is not healthy, people. It is never good to give up humanity for warmth and ease. It is not necessary and it could be argued that when we do this, we give up living for mere existence.

Bikes buried in snow till spring thaw. (photo by Ron Caspi of Soullenz Photography)

So, how do we continue to live full lives even when we are programmed to shut down and conserve resources? How do we maintain balance and get beyond the cycle of sleeping, eating, working that many of us get mired into in the middle of winter? How do we restore balance to life and rediscover the center? What makes us happy? There is something you used to enjoy doing, or dreamed of one day doing that made you happy and didn’t involve working for a soul-sucking corporation to keep yourself rolling along in unsupportable debt. Each of us needs to find what makes us happy to bring us back to center. In that way, the sun will shine from each of us and banish the darkness. Cheesy? Not really. Imagine a world where everyone was happy. What a wonderful place that would be. I think it’s doable in our lifetimes. It is something I wish for everyone. In my case, creation makes me happy. I enjoy making something from nothing. For others, it may be any of the humanities or sciences.

Antique Clock photo by Ron Caspi of Soullenz Photography

We are all pretty familiar with the sciences as they quantify and explain the observable universe. Not everybody gets excited about a petri dish, but more power to you if you do. Humanities. Art in all it’s forms. History. Religion and Philosophy. Languages. Literature. Law. In essence, it is who we are as a species. Not to say that going into survival mode in winter makes you any less human, just saying that it shrinks your world and puts you in an uneven orbit. The portion of your soul that wants to soar with the eagles, gets subjugated to the more responsible side that understands that even though it is -10 F, the driveway needs to be shoveled and the dog needs to be walked. Penning the next great novel will have to wait. Or will it?

Rediscover who you are. Engage all of your senses. Winter means you have more time than usual to sit and contemplate or study whatever subject your mind will take you to. Indulge yourself. Nobody else will. Listen to music. Go to an art exhibit. Attend a play. Eat at a new restaurant. Keep a journal. Read a new author, religion or philosophy. Visit a museum, go to an activity at the library. Watch a sporting event or take part in a one ( though it might be a little late to get involved in the suicide hill ski jump this year). Prepare your sprouting trays for your summer garden. Join a gym. Volunteer. Learn a new card game. Whatever excites you. There are no external limits being imposed on you. You are only limited by your imagination. Imagine if we could conduct all our lives like that….Try to fill in this blank: If I had no limitations, I would do _ with the rest of my life. When you fill in this blank, you will begin to find your way back to the center.

“It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years” – Abe Lincoln