Winter is a time to slow down and turn inward. It can be a time for excavation. It can be exciting because our semi-conscious or unconscious mind afford us endless material. Imagine discovering some new aspect of yourself. Or even some buried part of your family history. We bury things for all kinds of reasons. We bury traumatic experiences we are not ready to process, we bury parts of ourselves that have been shamed like sexuality and even joy.
Recently we were getting dressed in our coats, gloves and hats to go for a wintery walk. Cole, 5 was all ready to go, except for his shoes. Where are his shoes? Could we have left them out at the beach? How did we miss carrying them in – they are bright green? We retraced our steps out to the empty beach and there are no shoes. We look and look. Finally I asked Cole, where did you last see your shoes?” And he replies, “when I buried them.” It did not take long to see where the sand was disturbed and dig them up. At that age something lost and something found is very exciting. He had read about Curious George burying things in the sand to cause his usual mischief and was trying it out himself. It is a beautiful children’s metaphor for our real psychological process. We all have the agency to bury things and this is very important to our mental health….
