When I was a little girl, I was enchanted by the notion that bears would cuddle up in their caves and sleep through the winter. I often wondered if bears could dream and, if they could, what would they dream about? I was quite devastated to learn later on that bears do not actually achieve REM sleep, the level of sleep necessary to be able to dream. Instead, they just go into a shallow torpor which decreases their body temperature greatly, plus slows down their metabolism and heart rate. Bummer! Yet another childhood fantasy shattered!
Those of us (like myself), who are not into the whole "love the cold weather/skiing/ sledding, etc." thing, and prefer a warm fire, a blanket, and endless cups of hot chocolate, would make wonderful candidates for hibernation. First of all, we wouldn't have to follow through on all those New Year's Resolutions to lose weight and exercise more because we would be living off the stored fat we already have. Awesome! So, it follows that, secondly, we wouldn't have to rack our brains trying to think of what to make for dinner every night. Gee, this hibernation thing gets better all the time.
Seriously, I like to go into my own version of hibernation at this time of year. Especially on a day like today, when it is 19 degrees with a wind chill of 7 degrees, and the promise of -10 wind chill tonight, the idea of not having to venture any further than mailbox in the lobby of my building is looking pretty good to me right now. An added bonus for me, however, is that I get to spend this time dreaming ... of projects I could start, projects I started but realize I have to let go of, new recipes to try, new books to read and feed my brain as well as my body (with all those healthier new recipes, of course), and just to daydream whenever the mood strikes me. This is the true dream-time, and I look forward to it every year. To be honest, the whole thing starts to wear a bit thin by the end of February and definitely by the beginning of March which, up here in my neck of the woods, can look and feel a whole lot like winter will never end. For the most part, by that time my ideas and dreams have started to take shape and I look forward to manifesting them into reality. Not a bad way to spend a cold, blustery winter. Now that I think about it, I've got it better than the bears ... I get to drink hot chocolate all winter long!
And so it is.
