I have a favourite song from my daughter, Erica Lee Martin’s album, Out of The Playground. It’s called I Push On and it just gets me. It’s poignant and haunting and it speaks about facing challenges and finding inspiration to keep going. I just love it. For those of us who aren’t blessed with an always positive spirit, that describes how we manage life. It can be wonderful, but mostly in fleeting moments. I don’t exactly know why, but my spirit has been low for many months, maybe years. If you were to think of me as a globe, my spirit tends to hover below the equator with occasional spikes above. I count myself lucky that I’m not among those whose spirits hover around the Antarctic circle. My heart goes out to those people.
Lately, I guess I have some concrete reasons for feeling low. I have friends and relations who are going through very rough times and, of course, that weighs on me. The news of the world is relentlessly depressing, and, though I try to avoid listening to it, it’s virtually impossible, as I’ve mentioned before. There is very little I can do for my friends to alleviate their suffering, but I’m trying to find ways to lift my own spirits, which I find are affected by the gloom of winter more and more every year. If I can’t find in myself an “invincible summer”, I’ll have even less to offer those who are in real pain and distress.
Since it’s the holiday season, I have a good excuse to put up coloured lights and a Christmas tree, but secretly, I do it because it lifts my spirits, and I hope it helps others feel good, too. I also light candles, plant cuttings, grow Amaryllis and make cookies. I listen to music, sing along, dance along, and practice my instrument. All these things help, but probably the one thing that is a constant salve is my knitting habit.
The act of knitting is very soothing, and it also stimulates my creative side. Knitting can seem like meditating sometimes, especially when I’m following a complicated colourwork chart and I can’t really think about anything else at the same time. Maybe that’s why stranded colourwork is my favourite. It keeps my mind focussed and I’m cheered by the beautiful colours of the piece I’m working on.
If you’re feeling challenged, as I am, to feel good during the winter, try any of the suggestions above, or try listening to podcasts as a distraction and for inspiration. I recommend Happier with Gretchen Rubin. She and her sister, Elizabeth Craft, (the hosts) have very down-to-earth suggestions on how to improve your happiness level on a daily basis. I hope I’m not repeating myself, but I really do get a lot out of their podcasts.
Take heart, fellow (metaphorical) residents of the sub-equator! The shortest day of the year will soon be here and after that things will be getting imperceptibly, incrementally, brighter.
I love to hear from you!