There’s lots that I love about these weeks leading up to Solstice and Christmas Day. I love the early morning light and the dark that descends way too early for some but calls me to quieten and sit by the fire.
I love choir music and greenery and lights. I love the bustle and the smiles of people scurrying about town on last minute errands. I love all the promise in the air.
And, yes, there are parts this sensitive introvert finds hard. I love to give gifts but find shopping stressful.The search for gifts can be long and takes me away from the peace and quietness of the country into the overstimulating world of glitter and baubles, lights and scents that are at first pleasant but soon overwhelm. This is not a new phenomenon for me. My capacity for shopping in the city is much, much shorter than it is for many people. I usually start at a bookstore, just to get my shopping legs before I hit the others. Even bookstores now have taken on a whole new look as they try and survive in the age of Amazon. There are gift sections and coffee shops, and a whole array of small “stuff” beckoning you as you snake your way to the cash. Quite honestly, I could go home after the bookstore and feel that my day was quite stimulating enough.
But there are still home decorating stores, toy stores, body care stores, and clothing stores to visit. I am attracted to it all and feel like a hummingbird flitting from one dazzling display to the next.
For a short while, I see what has been missing in my life and want it all. That is, until overstimulation hits and my seven year old inside feels like flopping to the floor and flailing my legs, willing someone to rescue me. Time to go.
And then there are all the lists: gift lists, food lists, lists of lists… Before you know it, the peace of the season has crept under the door and is floating its way into the deep, dark woods. “Hold on, I’m coming too,” I shout.
Maybe that is exactly the antidote we all need – a walk in the woods to find the peace that slipped away while we weren’t looking.
May the peace of the season be with you all.
Pebbles and Clay 
What a fun post! The introvert’s dilemma: places full of people are really stimulating … and exhausting. A walk in the woods is the perfect way to restore equilibrium.
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Thanks. Yes, the woods are certainly quiet and counteract the stimulation. Great to be able to have both though!
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It’s the over-stimulation that makes me – when I think of it, which is not every year – get my xmas gifts and cards in the warmer, lighter months, when I can take my time.
I love summer but am coming to realise that I (as another introvert) become more creative in the winter. Is it this thing of being able to be more inside myself when the night falls so early?
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There’s something very womb-like about the dark of winter. I find it appealing to move inside, to quieten. I sure am ready to move out in March though!
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