Winter is known as the worst of the four seasons, says the majority of the world! I don’t know about you, but winter is not my personal favorite season either, but that doesn’t mean I won’t make the most of it! As the seasons start to change, I start to plan. I always ask myself, how can I make the most of this season? For winter, I think about the holidays, getting cozy and the snow, and go from there. After tons of brainstorming, here are the fun winter activities I want to plan. By planning these, some with friends, with family, and some by myself, I can romanticize this winter and make life a little more exciting!
Enjoy the Early Morning Light
Since daylight saving time has hit, near me the sun rises at 6:30am and sets around 4:30pm. Right before the clocks changed, I was going to work when it was dark out and returning home when it was also dark. Now, I at least get to see the sun in the morning too. To me, winter feels like the time to wake up earlier and go to bed earlier.
To make the most of daylight savings, I’m going to try to wake up just a little earlier. I want to enjoy the sunrise and light outside before it snows and gets unbearably cold. Getting more light and time outside helps stabilize your circadian rhythm. That means getting more light will make it easier to go to sleep.
Embrace The Coziness
Most people hate daylight savings because of how early it gets dark out. This makes it feel like hibernation time and also like nothing gets done at home after work because you feel like it’s time to go to bed! For me, I am trying to take life slower during the winter and embrace relaxation. If you knew me in person, you would know this isn’t an easy task for me! When it’s dark but still, you know, 5pm, there are so many lowkey things you can do that will romanticize the time of year.
For one, you can crawl under your favorite blanket and watch your favorite movie, holiday themed or not. I personally like to hang out under a blanket next to the Christmas tree and read a book. It makes me feel like I’m taking advantage of having the tree up and spending time nearby, admiring it. I also love having a candle lit in whatever room I’m in during this time. If you’re hosting, you can be perfectly on theme by getting a candelabra that holds lots of candles and lighting them all. It will set the perfect mood lighting for whatever event or fun winter activities you have planned.
Get into the Holiday Spirit
Speaking of hosting, there are so many fun festive things you can do with your friends during this time. With the lack of light, it feels right to me to do more wholesome things together, besides New Year’s Eve of course. With the weather being at its coldest, it makes sense to stay inside, relax, craft, and bake. Maybe it’s just my Tik Tok for you page, but it’s chock full of holiday crafts. I saw people go to Michaels and get small wooden houses, then paint them to look like gingerbread houses or a Christmas village. Also, I saw people using hot water to bend and meld candy canes into the shape of bows. Every store seems to sell gingerbread decorating kits, but you could also DIY it and make one yourself. You could make and decorate cookies with friends while listening to festive music.
There are SO many ways to get into the holiday spirit. What feels the best normally is getting in touch with what you did during your childhood holidays! Buy some hot chocolate to drink too and you can plan a few nights to really feel festive and excited for the holidays.
Decorate For The Season
Along the same lines of the last one, is decorating your house for the holidays. After a long day of work, going home is the most exciting thing you can sometimes do. You can multiply that feeling by 1000 if you’re coming home to a clean and festive version. Decorating doesn’t have to be super time consuming and can be a fun winter activity.
A way to make your whole house smell and feel clean is by boiling water with cinnamon and fruits inside. The vapors will carry the fruity, festive smell all around your house. You can also use ribbon to make your cabinets look like presents, which is a new trend this year, or using a curtain rod anywhere in your house to layer ferns and tinsel. These are just non-denominational ways to decorate for the season, but there are tons of religion specific decorations on Pinterest and Tik Tok to make your space feel festive and fun to be in.
Enjoy The Snow (if you get any)
I live in Connecticut, so during a normal year, we get lots of snow. I lived abroad briefly and taught children who had never once seen snow before in their life! I promised myself to romanticize the snow a bit more this year for that reason. There are so many fun winter activities surrounding snow that can be a great way to make life a little more interesting.
Get in touch with your inner child and go sledding with friends as it’s snowing! If you’re looking to spend a little money, you could try skiing or snowboarding if you haven’t before. With global warming looming closer every year, it makes me try to enjoy the snow while it’s around. If you want to do something easy, you could always build a snowman outside like when you were little! My personal favorite way to romanticize the snow is to go for a walk while it’s snowing! Nothing feels more magical than walking around in untouched snow, as it so peacefully falls around you. Everything is so quiet and clean (for now), I always feel at peace. Plus, I get to enjoy the snow before I have to shovel it to get out of my driveway, or before it turns brown with all of the traffic.
Prioritize Your Relationships
Winter feels like the most nostalgic season for me. Picturing how magical the holidays used to feel makes most people still to this day so excited for them to come around. When it’s warm out, it’s easy to enjoy life and get distracted since everything is more fun. While it’s cold, you have less distractions and plans, making people feel more lonely than usual. This extra free time along with the nostalgia of the season means it’s a great time to prioritize your family and friends.
Make the holidays feel magical again by spending quality time with the people you love. Go out to lunch with your grandparents. Have your parents and siblings over for dinner. Plan a fun activity with your friends. Take advantage of the slowness of life and the free time to build up your relationships.
Start your Winter Arc ASAP
If you’re reading this before the new year, it’s time to lock IN. What is your winter arc, you may ask. Since winter is the most free and slow time of year, take advantage of it to work towards your goals. This idea stems from a Tik Tok trend (not sure if it goes further than that) to start your goals now so you have progress and build a habit before New Years. Most people don’t achieve their New Year’s resolution.
So if you are serious about achieving yours, set down and set some goals. Make feasible weekly goals to help you hit your big ones. Start now and by the new year, you’ll have the habit to continue and achieve it. Plan fun winter activities to keep you stimulated, combined with your winter arc, you’ll also stay on track with your goals.
Embrace The Change of Pace!
This time of year is different. It’s like our bodies are in hibernation, focusing on rest, moving slowly, and comfort. But also, grinding now while you aren’t busy, whether that’s physically working out or mentally planning moves for the next year.
Physically
For movement, maybe take up yoga while being cozy in your sweats. Especially if you’re cooped up all day, a nice stretch will do you good! Or if you need to take a class to focus, find a night time one where you can keep life moving even after the sun goes down. Ask your doctor, if you’re one of the 99% of Americans who probably should be taking a vitamin D supplement in the winter. If you don’t want to take a supplement or can’t, prioritize getting outside or sitting by the window more. The lack of time outside and lack of sunlight will affect you more than you realize.
Mentally
Mentally, keep things fun and fresh so life doesn’t get too boring – and YOU get too in your head. Plan some fun winter activities that you can look forward to. If you need to, journal to let it out. Hug your friends and family. Spend quality time with people that love you.
Spiritually
Take this time to get in touch with yourself and your faith. Faith can be religion or anything you believe strongly in. Personally, my faith is in myself, trust in myself through this lifetime. That trust in myself comes from doing things alone and having only me to rely on. I trust that I will make good decisions and love spending time with myself, a topic I broach more on here. Spend time building faith, maybe in yourself like me, or with whatever you believe in.
Winter is the most different season. Life is at its slowest and quietest. We don’t condition ourselves to enjoy that, in this day and age. Take time to get to know YOU to focus on YOU while you have the space to do so. Bring some passion into your life by planning fun winter activities that will help you feel creative and productive.
Do things that make you feel good in the season we’re in now, that helps the current you that you are now! Romanticize this winter to make life exciting and better for you!
