- by Shaylyn White

Winter tends to be a time for quiet and stillness; the weather is cold, the days are short, and plants and animals alike tend to take this time to rest. These days, most humans follow different rhythms, but resting in winter is still seen as natural for us too, and I know I’m not alone in cozying up indoors when I can. 

That still quality of winter is necessary as a way for us to conserve and recharge our energy. It’s impossible for us to simply go-go-go endlessly without rest; by taking time to slow ourselves down, we’re better able to prepare ourselves for the future. Spring, in comparison to winter, is often seen as a time for rebirth and renewal, for busyness and new awakenings, yet it’s impossible to have that bustling spring without first allowing ourselves a period of quiet.  

Because of this, despite December (the month I’m writing this) being the end of the year, it doesn’t feel like an ending to me. It feels, instead, like a time of transition, the same way a cocoon doesn’t mark the end of a caterpillar’s life cycle. There is still something waiting to be born—it’s just a matter of giving it the time and space it needs to do so, and the New Year will take us into that.  

This spring and summer past were certainly times of busyness for the Enhancing Impact project, but now, we’re in that still period—a time of reflection, consideration, and planning. Rather than lying dormant, we’re preparing to enter that next phase. And hopefully, the work we’ve done before now will be enough to see us through it.  

This blog post marks the end of my musings about the Enhancing Impact initiative. I’ve already shared our reports on campaigns and tools and resources in previous entries,so to close us off, I’d like to now share the collective summary report, which combines the findings from both phases and touches on key learnings to be had. You can read the collective summary report here here.

And if you have any questions or thoughts you’d like to share, you can do so by reaching out to Shaylyn at shaylyn@stopstoviolence.com.