You know I'm a winter lover, but I have a lot of sympathy since I have exactly the same feelings towards summer. I think my husband basically tunes me out June through August because it's just me constantly complaining. Every year I say I'm going to try to love the summer - going to go swimming, get up early, have a drink on the porch, put my laundry out on the clothesline - and like clockwork every muggy July I'm looking up houses up north. So yes, very easy in theory, very hard in practice! Both with the seasons, and the spiritual comparison.
I will say that with winter, at least you can always add layers...in summer, you can't just walk outside naked. So there's a level of discomfort that just can't be helped!
Thanks so much for your words as always. They make me smile and laugh. I'm one of the Wisconsin-based weirdos who likes winter. I don't like the dreary, flat, gray days, but give me snow to bounce that minuscule amount of light off of, and bam! Better day! I also love the days when I can drop my kids off at school, put my balaclava on, and snowshoe around the rectory grounds because there is FINALLY enough snow for snowshoeing (even though it's 20 below)! Finding the little joys is so important, and building them into life. I recently heard the phrase, "Building a life I don't want to escape from"--and for me that includes the freezing days of winter. :) Otherwise I just make myself read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder on repeat, and I feel better about whatever I'm facing. Because it ain't that. Ha. Happy mushy/slushy end of January!
“when you’d rather be stuffing your face with tortilla chips and binging Abbott Elementary”
Hey real quick-are you spying on me? Because this is one of my exact coping (or avoiding) mechanisms.
Jokes aside-beautiful articles. I’ve been in winter season of faith for some time now. I appreciate how you can write about suffering with authenticity and avoid filling it with platitudes about how suffering makes us holy.
I say the EXACT same thing about Little Women - I connect with a new character every time I read it.
My favorite book of all time for this reason, I've read it seven or eight times. I've never heard someone else describe it the same way! I'd never really "got" Amy, and then I read it during study abroad in college when I needed a little comfort, and, bam, I loved Amy. Such a skillfully written book!
So good. This letter (and the daily Mass readings yesterday) prodded me out of my "I know so much better - winter shouldn't exist" mindset that I had fallen into. It's still a struggle to fully embrace my winter, but I can at least recognize that I'm not the decision maker and be content in my littleness - because God loves. Thanks Claire!
This was such a great letter! It sent me on an hour-long journaling session.
I’m so glad for getting to see someone else’s perspective on difficult topics like struggles - especially with the honest words like “masochistic, privileged church-weirdos”.
You know I'm a winter lover, but I have a lot of sympathy since I have exactly the same feelings towards summer. I think my husband basically tunes me out June through August because it's just me constantly complaining. Every year I say I'm going to try to love the summer - going to go swimming, get up early, have a drink on the porch, put my laundry out on the clothesline - and like clockwork every muggy July I'm looking up houses up north. So yes, very easy in theory, very hard in practice! Both with the seasons, and the spiritual comparison.
I will say that with winter, at least you can always add layers...in summer, you can't just walk outside naked. So there's a level of discomfort that just can't be helped!
Thanks so much for your words as always. They make me smile and laugh. I'm one of the Wisconsin-based weirdos who likes winter. I don't like the dreary, flat, gray days, but give me snow to bounce that minuscule amount of light off of, and bam! Better day! I also love the days when I can drop my kids off at school, put my balaclava on, and snowshoe around the rectory grounds because there is FINALLY enough snow for snowshoeing (even though it's 20 below)! Finding the little joys is so important, and building them into life. I recently heard the phrase, "Building a life I don't want to escape from"--and for me that includes the freezing days of winter. :) Otherwise I just make myself read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder on repeat, and I feel better about whatever I'm facing. Because it ain't that. Ha. Happy mushy/slushy end of January!
The Long Winter legitimately helps me to enjoy it, ha! At least I'm not Ma caught in a snowstorm! 😬
“when you’d rather be stuffing your face with tortilla chips and binging Abbott Elementary”
Hey real quick-are you spying on me? Because this is one of my exact coping (or avoiding) mechanisms.
Jokes aside-beautiful articles. I’ve been in winter season of faith for some time now. I appreciate how you can write about suffering with authenticity and avoid filling it with platitudes about how suffering makes us holy.
I've just gotten into Abbott Elementary and absolutely loving it! The principal KILLS me 😂
I say the EXACT same thing about Little Women - I connect with a new character every time I read it.
My favorite book of all time for this reason, I've read it seven or eight times. I've never heard someone else describe it the same way! I'd never really "got" Amy, and then I read it during study abroad in college when I needed a little comfort, and, bam, I loved Amy. Such a skillfully written book!
So good. This letter (and the daily Mass readings yesterday) prodded me out of my "I know so much better - winter shouldn't exist" mindset that I had fallen into. It's still a struggle to fully embrace my winter, but I can at least recognize that I'm not the decision maker and be content in my littleness - because God loves. Thanks Claire!
This was such a great letter! It sent me on an hour-long journaling session.
I’m so glad for getting to see someone else’s perspective on difficult topics like struggles - especially with the honest words like “masochistic, privileged church-weirdos”.
I'm so glad it resonated, Melissa!