There’s something about winter that causes us to slow down, to reflect. I suppose you could say the same thing about any season: it’s really a matter of being intentional with your time and attention and being present.

I’m making it a practice to sit and write out some of my thoughts during each season this year—a practice I hope will help me cultivate a sense of peace and gratitude, recognize and acknowledge things I’m learning, and be more present.

We’re all works in progress, right? This is me, sharing where I am and what I’m learning along the way.

So, let’s pretend it’s the weather and say this reflection was inspired by quiet snow days and clean, winter-white landscapes, okay? This is life lately:

Life Lately: Winter Edition

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• Making hand-cut fries and BLTs one night, reheating store-bought pizza the next.

• Googling ways to use leftover mascarpone cheese (making blueberry French toast).

• Learning how to make an Italian cappuccino (never going back to regular espresso).

• Trips to the vet for Rory, a cone, and a list of dos and donts for a few weeks. Making sure she takes her antibiotic - a small green capsule hidden in her food bowl (bribing her with rotisserie chicken and a few drops of olive oil).

• Sitting on an unmade bed on a Sunday afternoon, reading Just Mercy and waiting for the sheets to dry.

• Remembering to water all the houseplants (especially the 100-year-old fern).

• Researching floor rugs and lake houses, flights, and “how to fix a refrigerator water dispenser.”

• Listening to Frances Mayes’ A Year in the World.

• Practicing solitude and being alone with my thoughts (inspired by this interview).

• Taking brisk walks around the neighborhood (wearing two pairs of gloves). Appreciating the sunshine when we can, and the beauty of a winter sunrise.

• Making snow cream.

• Drinking out of the fancy wine glasses and eating dinner picnic-style in the sunroom.

• Taking a break from social media on the weekends (finding freedom and learning how to be still).

• Singing familiar spirituals, learning new ones (relearning what they have to teach us).

• Making time and space for creativity (#doitfortheprocess).

• Canceling plans and staying in; wearing wool socks and rearranging the sunroom.

• Borrowing library books (staying up too late reading them). Recent reads include: Deep Work, Reading People, The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, and Made to Stick.

• Practicing six little songs—poems of mine that SD set to music (coming soon!). 

• Teaching melodic intervals and tonal patterns with Hershey’s Kisses and a printable music staff.

• Making new friends (and keeping the old).

What about you? What does your life look like lately?