January ~ A Time of Hibernation and A Time of Healing
/Quite frankly, much of January has been a slog this year. Forgive me while I indulge in a word study as I attempt to find language to describe how I have managed to get through all the many aspects of the month.
When I first began the journey towards healing from the effects of being under a surgeons knife,
I thought I might create a bit of poetry each day.
Instead, I found myself
floundering,
bogged down,
and
dragging myself through each day
without even picking up a pen
to write the simplest of sentences
to describe how hard it has been to live in an aging body
that is trying to heal from surgery,
and an infection developed at the incision site.
Trudging along in a broken down body
in
a month filled with endless dark and dreary days,
truly did seem to be like a slog across frozen tundra.
That rhyme we learned as children goes like this:
“Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except February...”
I say to you, if January only has thirty-one days, it sure has fooled me! This January seems like it has been going on for years now.
As I have spent time sitting in my chair in my study resting, reading, and recouping, I’ve also been doing a bit of reflecting.
I knew I needed to have a change in my perspective.
So, I went looking for beauty outside of my four walls.
January is not all dreariness and darkness. Thankfully, like all of life, January also has days of both sunshine and shadows.
In life we experience joy mingled with grief. We find hope in the midst of desperation.
Thankfully, in all of the hours that could have been experienced as isolation, I have instead found times of sacred solitude that have allowed me to heal internally, spiritually, and emotionally.
I’ve learned that:
healing and hibernating Can go hand and hand in january
Thankfully, those January days experienced as one long journey of attempting to plough along across frozen earth were often followed by days of glorious beauty.
One day, I awakened to a brilliant blue sky providing the perfect background for trees covered with hoarfrost. Looking heavenward, grateful to drink in the wonder of the artistry of a God who gives glimpses of the mystery and majesty that He brings to all creation, I realized anew that his mercies truly are new every morning.
Rime on Trees Against a January Blue sky in Colorado. Photo by Sally Wessely
Hibernation
The sky is blue.
The snow is melting.
The paper whites are fading.
Winter.
Is is over?
January,
you confuse me at times.
The view from my window says come outside and play in the sun.
Are brumal days and nights over?
Is Mama Bear being tempted on this fine Saturday morning to emerge from her hibernaculum?
Her secret winter home,
dug within the hillside
covered with majestic Ponderosa pines
that I see outside my window,
may also be heating up in this weather.
A winter landscape in Colorado. Photo by Sally Wessely
Will she be out today?
Or will she,
like I,
prefer to stay tucked inside a cozy den
where one does not have to deal with the vicissitudes of weather and life?*
It has been a blessing to have been protected from the many vicissitudes of life during this time of hibernation and healing.
*This poem was first written by me on January 17, 2015 after I was inspired by a FaceBook post by the author Patricia Polocco where she said, "Make today count...not in a "get more work done" way....but use this day to heal your mind from all the garbage you have dealt with all week, that can't be helped.”
