A Softer Start: Sobriety, Wintering and Slowing Down

The run up to Christmas can be busy and chaotic; we need this month to rest and reset

For the first time since starting my Substack, I didn’t post last week. I had no inspiration or motivation.

The Christmas break so was nice. For the first time in a long time I had a nice relaxed break with no arguments, no fall outs, no drama and no illness. It was such a refreshing changing having on Christmas coming to terms with my mum’s brain tumour and operation, then a Christmas of decline the following year and a painful Christmas shrouded in grief and unnecessary work worries caused by an insensitive, chaotic boss.

So I think I was due a decent one.

But it’s taken me a while to get going this year.

I know a lot of people do Dry January, but I also know a lot of people who use it as an excuse to drink excessively throughout the year. I have come to realise that this break is often what people need to kick start a life of sobriety. It’s the perfect time to hibernate, eat good whole foods, stay on top of supplements and keep active. Even just a little stroll outside does you the world of good. So if that’s you and you need a bit more support, I’m here for you.

There’s a wonderful book called Wintering by Katherine May, which I found such a comfort when I first read it and I’ve been promising myself to re-read it ever since. If only I could get through the rest of my reading pile!

“Wintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves… Ultimately, Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times.”

And like anything that needs to grow, we need these fallow times to nurture ourselves. Be kind to ourselves. And do things that make us feel good about ourselves.