Winter Joy Roundup
My favorite and most inspiring female artists
A few weeks ago, I heard someone says “well, everyone suffers from seasonal affective disorder in Winter, you know, who doesn’t?”
It stopped me in my tracks, because I understand where it comes from, but I totally disagree.
I feel that, for a lot of folks, what is labelled as SAD and quickly brushed off as another common thing is a deep whisper asking for our attention in the darker times of the year.
Summer and spring have plenty of tricks to help us avoid and dissociate. Like the Full Moon, they are shiny and easy to work with.
Winter is uncomfortable for a lot of us because there’s not much room for running away from what is. The shadows are right here, in front of us. The restlessness we might feel, the sadness that surges above the surface; they were there all along.
They were just buried under the busyness and all the flowering and blooming of other times.
I’ve experienced various episodes of depression over the years, and I’ve made friends with Grief and the various ways it pops up in life.
This Winter, I feel so joyful and grateful that I get to rest, be creative, have a toolbox of practices to pull from, and a supportive network of inspiring women around me.
So no, seasonal affective disorder is not inevitable.
It is both a blessing, pointing us to what needs tended to, and an invitation to take our place back in the family of things, among those who have experienced life before us and connect with our deeper longings.
If you’d like support crafting a toolbox of your own through the wisdom of Yoga, Ayurveda and Spirituality, I’m right here for you.
And in the meanwhile, I want to leave you with Beauty and Joy, that is some of the artists that have been propping me to Wonder and Awe over the years, especially as I look into their lives and artistic journeys. None of them are straightforward or easeful. Life just isn’t.
What comfort to know we have a community of souls accompanying us along!
May they delight you too, and feel free to pop your own favorites in the comments below.
