“Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintery fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fairy tea-maker, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the rain and wind are raging.” —Thomas de Quincey

Fully immersed in winter, we find ourselves nearing the midway point of the season to still our beings, settle our soul, clarify our direction and embrace the opportunity to nourish our nest of well-being.

As promised, the series continues. With each season of the calendar year, we will explore with intention how to deeply savor what each gives us, a conscious engagement with three months of the year that while they will return again, when we do not wish them away if, in this case, winter isn’t your favorite season, we realize the nourishment always available if only we would be wise enough to notice it.

In the first post of our four-part series, sharing 22 of Autumn’s offered savorings, I shared the five specific ways to savor. Four were outlined in Savoring: The New Model of Positive Experience, by Fred B. Bryant and Joseph Veroff, and a fifth was identified in a 2022 study. I have included them again below for reference because the more we consciously understand all of the ways savoring deeply is available to us, the more we give ourselves little gifts throughout each day. And each time we savor, we are training the mind to look for more of such instances because there is a reward in doing so.

When we are looking for beauty, for reasons to be appreciative, for reasons to cheer, to delight as well as relax and luxuriate throughout our everydays, we’re not looking for the contrary. At odds with a common accepted norm that multi-tasking is possible, we cannot both look for something to savor and something to fear or dislike. To see something in all its complexity requires our full attention. And I have a feeling you too, like myself, far prefer residing in a place where our nervous system is calm and regulated, our being peaceful and perhaps tickled with delight rather than the opposite. Unlike dwelling on the unwanted, when we savor, we strengthen our well-being, strengthen our physical and mental health, and so we care for ourselves when we choose to remember to savor each day that we are given on our amazing planet earth.

Let’s review the five different ways savoring can occur.

To savor involves moments that are sometimes entirely internal, sometimes wholly external, and in other instances, a combination of both. Let’s take a look at each of them: four were outlined in Savoring: The New Model of Positive Experience, by Fred B. Bryant and Joseph Veroff, and a fifth was identified in a 2022 study. 

	External world	Internal self
Cognitive Reflection	Thanksgiving (gratitude), Knowing (interest, curiosity)	Basking (pride)
Experiential absorption	Marveling (awe), Knowing (interest, curiosity)	Luxuriating (pleasure of the senses)

When we give our full attention to each day during this festive time during the Winter season, the joy we experience elevates the quality of the entire day, whether it’s a middle-of-the-week Wednesday in December or a Saturday afternoon full of bustle just days away from that special day. Here are a few of the many sounds, sights, and moments that can deepen the delight of the everyday during this merry season, not just on those days marked as ‘time off’ on the calendar.

Marveling (awe)

1. Listening live (or pre-recorded if in another time zone) with the world to Vienna’s New Year Symphony concert

2. Taking a stroll at night under a full moon and clear sky when there is snow upon the ground (perhaps taking a ski or snowshoe if available)

4. Seeing the beauty of Mother Nature – the flora and the fauna – in this frozen and seemingly still state of resting world

~photos of goldfinch captured by my neighbor as they perched and swooped about the cherry trees in my garden~

5. Noticing the magnificent warmth and subtle brilliance of winter’s low light as it streams into our sanctuary, across the garden, and through the streets in mid-afternoon

Luxuriating (pleasure of the senses)

6. A crackling, cozy fire in the fireplace, or simply a warm fireplace to nestle next to, warming our hands, backside and body

7. Decadent hot chocolate (à la chocolat chaud) poured into a Dresden porcelain chocolate teacup & saucer (perfect for sipping), topped with homemade whipped cream

9. Snuggling underneath an eiderdown blanket or duvet on a cold winter’s night.

~explore the post 8 Unique Small Décor Ideas that Make a Signature Difference to Your Sanctuary~

10. Making a seasonal meal of earthy vegetables and hardy herbs

11. Opening the closet to a pile of warm cashmere sweaters in favorite colors and designs

12. Pulling on pajamas that are as warm and comfortable as they are stylish

13. Endless scarves to choose from, draped over hooks and pegs in the boot & basket room

14. The crisp chill that brings a shiver while taking a walk to stretch the legs (and stay warm)

Thanksgiving (gratitude)

15. Watching the pups, kids and yep, adults, frolic in the snow with glee when it arrives unexpectedly or after long anticipation

16. Baking a tear-and-share, such as a Cinnamon Snowflake (sweet) or Star Bread (savory), inviting the household to nibble throughout the day.  (Also luxuriating)

17. Reveling in the calm of January, reflecting on the possibilities of the new year, extending gratitude for a warm house, running water and food to enjoy

Basking (pride)

18. Making time to reflect on the amazement, lessons, and gifts of the year that has just passed.

19. Remembering to celebrate each day and step of progress toward an intention set with the new year to realize in the coming weeks and month

20. Ice skating and delighting in the magic of staying upright and above the once liquid form of the water below

21. To ski about amongst the natural beauty, taking in the fleeting magic of the lightness of snow having just arrived

Knowing (interest, curiosity)

22. Reveling in the Time Between the Years, tailored to our needs and sources of nourishment 

23. Taking time to plan the upcoming garden season’s seed selection, plant placement, additions, and edits

24. Selecting nominated films to watch (and those not nominated as well — I just went and watched The Choral and quite enjoyed it) with discernment and curiosity, with the awards season in full swing

25. Reading garden books tailored to your curiosities to better understand how to apply to your own garden

26. Choosing a project to finesse – wardrobe, language, proficiency skill set for work, a room within our home – and diligently giving time and effort to acquire the new knowledge to bring it into our lives

27. Attending a book reading at a local bookstore and cozy inside where it is warmth with fellow curious souls and oodles of books

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By embracing winter’s gifts, we come to discover there is much to treasure. A time to nestle in and dream, assess and plan knowing that once more daylight and warmth arrive, we will be pottering, exploring and if we are so fortunate, traveling. But now we are encouraged to be and that being provides a grounding strength from which to soar.

The more ways we realize there are to savor, and consciously bring them into our daily lives, the more our daily lives elevate. And as we look at each season with a perspective of abundance, realizing all that is made available to us to treasure, and also knowing it is evanescent, we live more in the present moment. With this new and strengthened habit, our everydays cannot help but deepen in their quality and fulfillment.

Now, let’s continue savoring this very special season that is Winter. We still have more than half the season left, and now with even more ways to enjoy it. Look for the Spring’s Offered Savorings post to be shared in late April.

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