Embracing Sadness Like A Winter Night - January 29

Experiencing sadness can be likened to walking into the darkness of a January night. In this episode of '5 Minutes In Nature,' Liz ventures out under the cloudy sky, embracing the chill of the evening and moving through the landscape with care. Often, sadness feels like something to escape, but what if it were an invitation to immerse ourselves fully in the emotion—just as Liz steps into the January darkness, embracing it rather than avoiding it?

Transcript

Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott. Well you join me at night it's about half past nine at night and I'm taking my dog out for a walk in the village and it's a very dark night there are no stars there is no moon and you might be able to hear the occasional car go by but there aren't really any people just the occasional dog walker I can see with a torch in front of me lighting up the ground but I don't have a torch on I rather like walking without a torch and allowing my eyes to get used to the darkness and I can see you can see in sort of shades of grey and your eyes get more and more used to the environment around you and I'm always surprised that even though it feels so dark and there's very little light here in the village we haven't got any street lights but you do get the occasional light spilling out of a home that just gives you that little element of lightness that you can see by but I do get so surprised at how soon my eyes adjust to the dark and I can see something and you know January has this sense of being dark and it seems to go on for so long I don't know if that makes sense to you but to me January is one of those months that seems to last a long time and the darkness seems to go on forever I think there's something about the winter solstice in December where there's a sense that the world is turning back to lightness but it takes a while before I notice the lightness in the mornings or the evenings it just seems a long month and today and tonight it's got this very damp chilliness in the air and it's just cold and dark and very January and today I'm reflecting on January's nature which is darkness and coldness and isn't it interesting how it can really reflect how we feel too I don't know about you but I do get moments where I get lost in in darkness and in thoughts and feelings of flatness and maybe sadness or emptiness and they can feel like they go on and on forever a bit like a January evening but what I'm reflecting on is as I walk with a dog is that it's okay to have these moments of feeling sad and low and there's nothing to be frightened of they are a bit like a January night when I get that moment of feeling flat or low or sad I just need to remember that January nights they will come and go and the nature of a January night is that it is cold and dark and my moods when they feel sad and low well the nature of them is that they feel sad and low and like a January night I can get used to that darkness I can walk in it it doesn't stop me it just means that when I walk in the darkness it's gonna be a bit hard to see and when I walk through those times when I feel sad and low well it's gonna be a bit hard to see my way as well in life but there's nothing wrong in that I don't need to beat myself up or think that I should feel any differently than I do it's about just embracing the moods and the feelings and being with them and allowing them and walking with them and walking through them and knowing that they will pass and that better times are ahead and actually there is a sense of being present to darkness and being present to the length of these cold January days and these cold January nights and just being present to them as there is a sense of just being present to those moments when I am sad and low so my request is that you become curious when you feel sad and low and see it maybe like a January night and just be with it and allow it and be present to it and maybe you can even find some kind of beauty or wisdom within that sadness or loneliness as I can find beauty and wisdom in this January night. I do hope you enjoyed reflecting with me on this cold January night time and I look forward to tomorrow's January reflection where I'll be out once again in nature listening to her wisdom.