How to Pay Attention This Week

The different types of weather are subtle but they offer us a way to not just pay attention to nature but self

On Sunday, we awoke to a fresh and quickly falling blanket of snow. There was a prediction we would get a coating. Instead, after just a few good daylight hours, the entire landscape covered every relatively horizontal surface with a blanket of white.

I can only try to explain to you the beauty of this sort of snow. It’s the kind that they sing about in Christmas songs. The kind that takes the stick season into a winter wonderland in just a short time.

It never fails. After the storm passes, the sun rises the next morning and turns the world into another planet. I live for these moments. The snow consumes the entire world, and it is something that can only happen in the liminal space between autumn and winter and winter to spring. These snows, even if they will look similar when they happen, will also have a different feeling. I don’t know if I can fully explain it to you, but it is there.

I mention this because as we head into winter, I want to note the subtle differences in what we know as snow, ice, and wintery mix. This isn’t a science conversation but rather a note on how even the way the snow falls is worthy of our attention. Paying attention to the nuances of these snowfalls brings wonder and presence to the season, which can feel mundane when it involves fluctuations from one cloudy, snowy day to another. There are nuances and differences.

If you ask me, I believe the winter is the most beautiful season here because it is becoming a shorter and shorter window in the year. Autumn is magic in a way that I cannot handle in my soul, but winter will and has forever been a permanent love affair. This Monday morning, in particular, can swoon anyone into being a fan of the season, especially if you toss in skiing in it.

The thing is, though, when the dramatic colors and shifting ways of the verdant landscape fade, we must now find curiosity and beauty in the simplicity and minute details of this season I love to think of like a blank canvas. Learning to find curiosity for how the snow can be textured or gathered on branches allows us to understand the complexity of being human, too. Seeing that sometimes snow is heavy and sticks to the branches and others it falls like stuffing or looks like white potato chips falling from the sky, it makes us realize that though all these versions are snow, it can look very different in many different situations.

This is true of ourselves, too.

Does joy always feel exactly the same? Does our sadness have many layers to it? Completely. When we are deeply in touch with our bodies and selves, we can see that our jealousy has layers to it, or our regret can have a different texture.

By learning to see, hear, watch, observe, and note the varying differences in how the rain or snow falls, the texture of the snowfall itself, or the ice that coats it underneath or on top, we are active participants in the shifting weather patterns. In turn, it can help us become just as curious about ourselves, allowing us to be curious about the people we are around daily.

Being curious and looking more closely at what is happening in nature has taught me the importance of doing this in my community and myself. So, this week, I encourage you to watch the shifting weather and its nuances. The texture of the snow. The ice that forms. How long does it stay? Is it sticky? Is it fluffy? How does the rain fall? Where does it go? Is the water on the lakeshore freezing?

Looking for subtleties is an overlooked art.

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PS. Paid Subscribers, you will be getting your winter guide before the holidays so you can soak into the new season during the break during the holidays.