I suppose the icy weather last week has put me in some sort of ‘dormant’ state, for I seem to be sluggish.

I have been reading through old journals and letters instead of writing new letters and entries, for whatever reason, ‘then’ seems more alluring than ‘now.

With that nostalgic thought in mind, I offer to you one of my ‘finds’, my January column from 2013.

For me, it still holds true in January 2022.

Happy New Year to all of you.

January 2013

The winter solace and Christmas were about two weeks ago and the new year began last Tuesday. The holidays were wonderful but I welcome the quietness of January.

It is winter now, a place to ‘see’ better. Like the trees that are barren in this coldest month, whose cover is shed and substance exposed, I hope to follow this winter path that Nature takes and look at things with keen and clear vision, to look closely at my life.

I welcome the first seed catalogue in my mailbox and I hope for ice to form one winter day, for as uncomfortable as it may be, it is necessary for Nature to go through her natural rhythms, just as we should go through ours. January gives us a small stop in this busy road, a soft moment by the fire, and the opportunity to look within.

I suppose I will consider my usual winter tasks of sorting through and cleaning out. I am not very good at either but like you, I keep trying and I suppose some progress is being made little by little. This need to purge, however, has diminished for me. I decided I like having these layers in my house. They are relics from my life and they make me happy; they feel cozy and

right. I am not implying hoarding, just “keeping”. I have, by accident, kept the childhood scribbles inside of Jon’s closet – I had it on my “to do” list for many years – paint inside the closets, I thought I must do that because it’s what “they” say I must do – so glad I never listened or got to it; I love being reminded of those lost days of their childhood. These small visuals come upon me like little snowflakes – I could be looking for something or putting something away and a

Lego block stuck in a corner of a drawer takes me back for a bit and I remember those joys of childhood. I stay there a minute and then go on, but I go on with a

bit more warmth in my heart and more connection to my past.

I also meant to go through the attic toys and toss or donate some but I never did. I am happy they are still there. I think all this organizing stuff is propaganda started by the plastic storage bin companies – just like all the other stuff “they” tell us we need, little of it is true. We don’t need most of of what they are selling. I will just tuck away and dust around all the things that I cherish and have lived here with me; I’m not buying into it.

Anyway, on this early January day in 2013, I wish everyone a new year filled with ways to become the person you want to be. Stuffing things in plastic bins and vowing to lose weight are things we do every year, but, in winter, we have a chance, like Nature, to find more quiet and uncovered moments to look within and learn more about who we really are, something more

important and essential than sorting through stuff.

 I end with a quote by Walt Whitman:

 ‘Reexamine all you have been told.

Dismiss what insults your soul.

and I say, when and if you do, perhaps you will find you.’

(You can follow Pam’s blog, “A View From My Garden” www.pamshenskyart.com)