Honoring the Winter Season: The Benefits of Productive Procrastination December 31, 2025 14:39
I woke up on Christmas Eve morning with song lyrics rolling around in my head. This is not unusual for me. I typically wake up with a melody. Sometimes they are commercial jingles from the ‘70s; sometimes, they are instrumental tunes—pop, jazz, R&B, classical…what these melodies often carry for me, besides a tune, is a message. If I can’t shake the song after an hour or so, I know it’s time to look up the lyrics and have a listen.
On this morning, the song was “Unwritten,” by Natasha Bedingfield:
“Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find.”
The message was clear…WRITE!!!
***
Most writers have rituals…patterns or habits that encourage the writing process. My prewriting ritual involves a bit of productive procrastination. On Christmas Eve morning, I spent some time sitting on the floor of my closet sorting through and folding up an assortment of tee shirts, camis, and tank tops that take up quite a bit of space when they aren’t neatly folded and put away. The shelves were overflowing with wadded up, wrinkled tees, and the small metal organizer was stuffed with tanks and camis. If I removed one, five more would follow and fall to the floor in a heap.
Taking the time to sort, organize, fold, and cull what I no longer needed helped me to clear my head and arrange my thoughts. Clearing the physical clutter helped me to clear the mental clutter.
After taking a shower, eating breakfast, listening to an online Dharma practice, and cleaning the bathroom sink and mirror—I was finally ready to write!
***
The days leading up to the winter holiday break are challenging for me. I don’t mind the season of winter—the cold, bare branches, and snow. Winter is a time of quiet reflection—it’s a time to slow down and hunker down.
Being bombarded with bright lights, peppy Christmas tunes, and the pressure to consume and buy stuff—all of these things are jarring and unsettling for me, and they are counterintuitive to the winter season.
The older I get, the more the holiday season seems like an obligation to me. It feels like an unpleasant chore. Honestly, I’d rather scrub the baseboards and clean the cat pan than decorate the tree or bake Christmas cookies.
At school, I ignored this year’s emails announcing the staff holiday party and gift exchange. I made a brief appearance at the annual holiday luncheon—then slipped back to my office to check-in with students who were preparing for final exams.
I’m torn between the pressure to fit in—to join in and succumb to the pressure to be “merry and bright” or to listen to my own intuitive guidance to do less, to slow down, to reflect, to meditate, to breathe and be.
***
The winter season is about gathering strength through rest, stillness, and silence. Winter doesn’t rush, and I don’t want to, either. I think about the woodchuck that lives underneath our barn, curling up into the earth, preparing for spring by resting in winter.
My husband and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home with our daughter and son-in-law. We had a nice dinner and exchanged a few thoughtful gifts. It wasn’t too loud, crowded, or over-the-top, but with enough tradition sprinkled in to feel like a holiday (a decorated tree, stockings, presents wrapped with care).
***
The day after Christmas the weather was uncharacteristically warm, so Jim and I spent several hours Swedish death cleaning the attic. By the light of a single bare bulb, we sorted through boxes filled with pictures, old holiday ornaments, toys, vinyl albums, and stacks of outdated magazines. I looked through binders stuffed with years of lesson plans and overhead transparencies. I sorted through laminated posters that I had hung in my classrooms.
We lowered box after box down into the garage and divided the piles slated for donations, trash, and recycling.
I washed and dried a box full of glass jars, canisters, candle holders, and knickknacks before loading them into my car, along with a couple of lamps, decorative items, and a mesh bag filled with yoga blocks and headed to the nearest Goodwill.
We loaded Jim’s truck with the trash and recycling.
By the end of the day, our clothes were dusty, we were sweaty and tired, and I even found a few desiccated stink bugs in my hair, but it felt good to clear out what we no longer needed—to sweep away the dust and debris, to clean out the clutter and make more room to breathe.
I’m glad we made the most of our warm weather opportunity. A storm front and arctic blast moved across our state the following day, bringing temperatures down into the teens.
***
Today is the last day of December, and I am enjoying that part of my winter break where I don’t know what day it is—or what time it is. I enjoy the long stretch of unstructured and unscheduled time before the New Year begins. Time falls away, and I have the space to read, think, listen to music, create malas, take naps, and practice.
The pressure cooker lead up to the holidays has fizzled out, and I am enjoying the quiet before the frenzy of the upcoming semester.
Having time to rest and recharge is essential, and I find that I really enjoy my meditation practice much more when I’m not as stressed or overscheduled.
***
I have enjoyed creating new mala designs for the website during the break, too. One of the designs, Jazz Inspired Mala, was the result of productive procrastination…and music.
One of my friends is a jazz musician, and he gave me his most recent CD, which is a collaboration that he and two other musicians recorded. I had originally planned to listen to it while sweeping and mopping the living room floor. We had put away the tree and Christmas decorations, and glitter was everywhere!
Instead, I listened while sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes of beads and my work tray, and created a layout design for the website.
It was an engaging and peaceful way to start the morning. I enjoyed listening to my friend’s music, and this mala-in-progress was a playful response to the jazzy rhythms and improvisational call.
I’ve recently added this mala to the website, along with a few additional designs. Be sure to have a look while you’re here.
***
I hope you find joy and peace this winter season, and I hope you savor many moments of creativity, belonging, love, and meaningful connection.
May you be happy and well, may you balance work and rest with ease and grace, and may your own personal practice inspire, support, and sustain you throughout 2026.
Take care of yourself…and those around you—see you next year!