Slow Living in Winter (Seasonal Living)
Click the image above to watch the video
In our modern day world, the average person has lost touch with what it means to live seasonally.
We can get any food we want, any time of the year and consume it (regardless of taste). And we can alter our environments in such a way that it doesn’t really matter what’s going on outside—in the winter, if it’s cold out, we turn up the heat, if it’s dark out, we turn on the lights.
And unfortunately because of the jobs many of us have, we spend most of our time indoors, glued to a computer screen, and what’s happening outside doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on us.
I lived the majority of my life in such a way, until seven years ago, when I left California and moved to the Colorado Rockies. Living in a place with clearly defined seasons made it impossible to not live seasonally, and I realized that I truly loved seasonal living—it felt like an important return to my humanity.
(I didn’t love the length of winter in the Rockies, though, which is one of the reasons why I’m now in North Carolina).
I mean—don’t get me wrong—I’ll always use heat and electricity in the winter. I'm not interested in returning to the caveman days, but I do want to continue developing, or rediscovering my innate human connection to the changing seasons.
Humans are a part of nature—and it’s so easy to forget this, as we’re constantly programmed to believe that we’re actually separate from it, or in some way above it.
But the reality is, our natural world is and will always be more intelligent and more magnificent than anything we humans artificially manufacture. And the more time I spend connecting with nature and her systems, the more I realize this truth.
Because it’s still wintertime, today I want to talk about seasonal living in winter—or slow living in winter, I should say.
Though there are many fun winter activities related to playing outdoors in the snow, the natural pull of the season is to take a break, go inside, conserve energy and to contemplate the past year and plan ahead for the following seasons.
Our bodies and minds need this natural break. We weren’t designed to “go hard” all day every day. And the fact that our society pushes us to do so is one of the main reasons why humans are so sick nowadays. And unfortunately, I know that from personal experience.
We need wintertime to slow down, recharge, analyze and strategically plan for the future, based on our review of the past. It’s a time to cozy up inside, connect to fire—our partner in evolution—and process everything we were too busy to process during the past spring, summer and fall.
If you just look to nature and pay attention to her cues, you’ll begin to understand what you, as a human being, are designed to do in any particular season. In winter everything is taking a break and conserving energy—there isn’t as much light available to produce food and it’s cold out. Trees lose their leaves, animals hibernate, everything is resting and preparing for the coming spring, but are you?
I believe that the more humans begin truly connecting to the seasons, the healthier we’ll become as a whole. It’s time to stop pushing ourselves mid-winter as if it were mid-summer, because it’s completely out of balance with the world around us.
I’m curious if you’ve ever thought about this? Or maybe your thoughts about living in alignment with the seasons led you to this video and blog post. Let me know in the comments below.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog post. I appreciate you being here and I look forward to connecting with you in the next one.
-----Camera and Gear Used To Shoot This Video -----
Camera (Canon EOSR): https://amzn.to/44dteQJ
Camera (Canon M50): https://amzn.to/44uEGbb
Gimbal (Zhiyun Crane M2 used for Canon M50): https://amzn.to/44co47G
Telephoto Lens (Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II): https://amzn.to/43evx4T
Wide Angle Lens (Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens): https://amzn.to/3rmZLFs
Drone (DJI Mavic Air 2): https://amzn.to/44fPNoa
Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.