The Deep Winter Reflection, A Scottish Christmas, and a Blogging Challenge
Currently sitting with a mocha in front of me after a brisk, cold and crisp walk. Now seems as good a time as ever to sit and do some writing.
The Deep Winter Reflection
For me, Deep Winter, the time between the shortest day of the year and Candlemas on 2nd February, is a time for reflection, digging in and enjoying the cold air.
There’s something about the crispness in the air, the short days, the clear, low light and the sense that the world is not moving quite as quickly. It feels like a time for rest, reflection and refinement.
Deep Winter is not a time for reinvention. It is a time for reflection, before the year really kicks off in spring. We all spend time beating ourselves up over failed New Year’s resolutions, when Deep Winter is not the time for change, not the time for metamorphosis.
As I age, Deep Winter also becomes a more joyful season, simply for its variety. Life’s seasons become more meaningful. Deep Winter, like spring, summer and autumn, all have their place.
Living in Scotland means you get to feel the seasons, which is grounding and stops the ever-sameness that life can take on.
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Christmas in Galloway, Scotland
Spending Christmas in the Galloway region of Scotland is one of life’s great delights, especially when you have weather as wonderful as the 2025 festive season offered.
Wonderful walks along rivers, coasts, forests and hills. Scenery that is breathtaking. Small towns that offer different varieties of amenities, from the Book Town of Wigtown to the delights of the sea at Portpatrick and the Isle of Whithorn, to the artist town of Kirkcudbright.
Plenty of places to explore, so you never feel stuck indoors.
Plus, if the sky is clear, you can enjoy the stargazing of the Dark Sky region.
Personal highlights include walking Glen Trool and seeing Bruce’s Stone, getting sea wind in my face at Whithorn, and popping into the Kirkcudbright Galleries to look at the Crystal Jar that formed part of the Galloway Hoard.
It’s a region that makes Christmas feel like a real Christmas, focused on family, recuperation and the things that matter.
Epiphany Blogging Challenge
As today is Epiphany, I had an epiphany: I should challenge myself to write more.
Challenging oneself helps to grow. I feel an urgency to improve my writing — an urgency to use writing for personal reflection, development and growth.
This matters to me; I want to spend each year getting better at different things as I enter the second age of life.
The challenge will strain my motivation and abilities. The challenge is:
- Write 100 blog posts between January 6th 2026 and January 6th 2027
- Average length: 500 words (50,000 words across the 100 posts)
- 50 posts must be professional in nature
- 50 posts must be personal or opinion pieces
This challenge will test me, and hopefully help me learn more about myself and provide the motivation to deliver.
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Final Thoughts
Deep Winter and its reflections are to be cherished, as each year brings its own challenges and changes.