The wise text speaks of stillness, of being bare, being stripped to your essence,
like the winter trees.

What it doesn’t say is how to live with that feeling of nakedness.

How to be still and release as the winds strip each leaf away.

How to reconcile grief with the truth of change.

How to feel radiant in your raw essence, rather than exposed and alone.

How to find beauty in emptiness.

How to remember that you will again one day create and receive nourishment
with the return of the sun’s light and warmth.

How to allow the aching loneliness to be, without pushing it away,
without trying to fill it with noise.

How to remember that you are still rooted, still strong,
just resting before the next cycle of growth.

How to thaw the icy heart of winter.