Wintering: The Emotional Seasons We Move Through

/ Dustin Shultz Counseling/

There’s a quiet emotional truth inside A Long December:
We are seasonal beings.

We move through cycles of closeness and distance, clarity and confusion, grief and renewal.
And yet many people judge themselves harshly for feeling slow, heavy, or reflective this time of year, as if emotional winter means they’ve failed.

But winter is not failure.
It’s invitation.

It’s the season where:

  • old regrets surface

  • quiet shame makes itself known

  • unmet needs rise to the surface

  • tired parts of us ask for warmth

  • we finally recognize the truth of what’s not working

  • we remember we’re human and finite

If December feels heavy or quiet, it may simply be signaling:
Something inside you needs gentleness rather than pressure.
Honesty rather than avoidance.
Warmth rather than self-criticism.

Let this be a month where you honor the season you’re in, not the one you think you’re “supposed” to be in.