I wish I were an artist with something other than words – something visual that people could see and touch and step into. I would create an infinite ocean and sky and then I would wade or fly in. The sea would be warm like bath water and the air would be gentle, gusting puffs of air that would bring me aloft into unknown celestial terrain, keeping me swaddled in starry magnificence or cloud cover. In all scenarios, I would be glowing in an ephemeral warmth.

Why warmth is so imperative to me in my dreams and my imaginings and in my reality is that my body reacts to warmth by relaxing and releasing. I am a creature who thrives on being immersed in steamy tubs and bundled up beside roaring fireplaces and finding myself in luscious beds filled with down duvets and pillows. I equate comfort with warmth and I need it now – in my sweaters, in my meditations, in my beachcombing attire. (I am contemplating a balaclava to accompany my warm mittens and daughter-knitted hats and scarves galore.)

My personality is one of warmth too. It’s my happy place inside and out. My exchanges often exude what my own self needs: kindness, acceptance, allowance. I want to be that person for all who find themselves in my path. Lately, in my teaching positions, that have been with many unruly youths who are not accustomed to warmth, I find they melt a little in my presence, when I ask them about the car they wish to buy or their mountain biking or their lipstick brand or their jobs instead of the math problem they are struggling with. (That might also be a distracting tactic for me so I don’t need to tackle something I don’t understand.) Regardless, my craving for warmth is a gift I can also give to others.

There is also the warmth of a fragrant bowl of carrot ginger soup, Earl Grey tea with lemon and a dash of sugar, the warmth of a book that one can sink into, absorbing the beauty of the language, the invitational setting that lures me into an adventure I can undertake whilst shrouded in my own cozy lair of pillows and throws.

I wish you all physical warmth today – from the sun, from your bed, from your food, from your shower…I wish you all inner warmth as well – from a knowing that you are enough, that you have the knowing within you, that you can float and let things be, just as they are. Be the change by keeping warm today, whether you are in pain, grieving, angry, frustrated, fearful or depressed. Give yourself the gift of warmth from the inside and the outside.