IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER:
LIVING THROUGH A PANDEMIC-TAINTED
COLD SEASON
“If we winter this one out, we can summer
anywhere.”
– Seamus Heany
BY DR. NURIT ISRAELI
This line from the Irish Nobel Prize-winning
poet, which offers hope during a
dark time, can be traced back to 1972: In
an interview for an Irish newspaper, Heany was
reflecting on a book he published titled “Wintering
Out.” Now, almost fifty years later, Heany’s
line dovetails with the way many of us feel as we
struggle through the cold season of 2021, waiting
for our pandemic-tainted lives to change.
Right now, in the depth of winter, we are dealing
with multiple stressors: the cold reality of a
pandemic, the surge in new Covid-19 infections,
myriad restrictions, multiple losses, political and
social unrest – a stress level that just won’t let
up. The cold weather makes outdoor activities
less enticing, enhancing pandemic fatigue.
My closet tells the story of how everything
has changed. Dressy outfits meant for holiday
celebrations – the velvet outfits, the long skirts,
the dresses – are hanging untouched, side-byside,
in the depths of the closet. The dancing
shoes are stacked beneath. They haven’t been
out for months; all remain in the dark. The only
clothes that see the light of day are sweat suits,
loungewear, and masks. I do put on non-pajamas
for the occasional Zoom meetings and, if
I know in advance, FaceTime calls. Other than
that, same style, day after day.
Since winter insisted on taking over, it has
become clear than we need to summon extra
resilience to cope with the cold months of 2021.
Beyond the need to ensure physical warmth, we
need to ensure spiritual comfort – opportunities
to disengage, even if only briefly, from the gravity
of a crisis that continues to unfold.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Mark Strand,
wrote a poem on coping with “winter” and all
that it represents: Lines for Winter. The poem is
a self-reflecting contemplation, a call for survival
over surrender despite hardships:
“Tell yourself as it gets cold and gray falls
from the air
that you will go on walking... no matter
where you find yourself –“
Never give up. Never stop striving. Move on,
regardless of circumstances...
During this Covid-tainted winter, what might
help us cope?
One of the coldest places I have spent time
in is Tromsø, a city in the very northernmost
part of Norway. Tromsø, located 200 miles
north of the Arctic Circle, does not see the
sun for months during its harsh winter. Kari
Leibowitz, an American researcher, spent a
winter in Tromsø on a Fulbright research grant.
As a health psychologist, she was interested in
studying the ways Tromsø’s residents coped
with the long “polar night.” Her findings indicated
that residents’ wellbeing did not change
significantly throughout the year: there was
no reported increase in mental distress during
winter months. How can this be explained?
According to Leibowitz, one explanation may
be a “mindset” that helps people cope adaptively:
they identify and practice activities that
can be enjoyed during winter months, and the
difference in outlook contributes to their resilience.
The more they see winter as an exciting
opportunity, the better they fare.
Leibowitz’s findings confirm previous
16 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ February 2021