Beyond the Fellowship

I was explaining the phenomenon of migration and how birds know to start their often long and treacherous journey to a group of second graders just a couple of days after we set our clocks back an hour. It was then that I finally made a connection between the frustration I had been expressing to friends about the days becoming shorter (especially when one doesn’t want to wake up at 5am to get some sunlight) and birds’ behavior in the winter.

Even though it gets dark earlier in the day in winter every single year, I still find myself shocked when it starts to get dark at 5pm in November. Every year, I have the same conversations, complaining about the lack of sunlight after work days and the impact it has on mental health. However, it seems that many people are finally starting to take a hint from birds and start changing their behaviors in the winter to make the best of the darkest and coldest months of the year.

While some of us are able to migrate to warmer places in the South, like the birds, for the winter–such as many east coast grandparents wintering in Florida for the winter–not all of us have that luxury. For those of us who are stuck in place for winter, what can we do to make it more bearable? 

One recent trend that has been going around social media is “hygge.” This term refers to “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being,” and is widespread throughout Scandinavian culture, originating in Denmark. This idea of adapting your behavior in the winter and slowing down seems to go against the current worldwide spread of hustling all the time and keeping a rigid routine, despite the weather, temperature, or number of daylight hours; but it completely aligns with the natural world.

Although migrating birds are the first natural phenomenon of response to seasonal change that comes to my mind, those who don’t work in the world of birds may think of others first. For example, many animals hibernate in the winter–slowing down their heart rates and essentially sleeping the entire season away. Many trees lose their leaves and seem to be almost dead before coming back to life in the spring. 

While humans may not be able to take it to this extreme, we can take this advice from nature and slow our pace for the winter months. Maybe this means adjusting our schedules so that we are awake earlier in the morning and go to sleep earlier to allow for more daylight hours outside of the work day. Maybe this means taking our meetings as walking meetings so that we can spend more time outside in the sunlight. Or maybe, taking a note from the concept of hygge, it means leaning into colder months by warming our homes with candles, warm drinks, fires in the fireplace, and fuzzy blankets. 

Whatever taking cues from the natural world means to you this winter season, I would suggest at least taking a gander at it–the birds have certainly been around a lot longer than we have, and I think we could stand to learn a thing or two from them. 

Sources:

Altman, A. (2016, December 18). The Year of Hygge, the Danish Obsession with Getting Cozy. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-year-of-hygge-the-danish-obsession-with-getting-cozy

Runwall, P. (2021, May 5). Bird migration is one of nature’s great wonders. Here’s how they do it. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bird-migration-one-of-natures-wonders-heres-how-they-do-it

1. Set up your new Primary Care Provider early

While establishing your healthcare in a new place might be an obvious important step to settling in, it is helpful to prioritize this process in your list of tasks after moving in. Personally, I put off choosing my Primary Care Provider until maybe the second or third month I spent in Boston. Unfortunately, I got quite a rude awakening when I found that new patients can face waiting times up to six months for an initial appointment with an available clinician.

2. Consider subletting housing before signing a lease

When moving to a completely new city, it can be difficult to get all the information you might want about your future housing — while video tours and roommate interviews can give you a better sense, nothing can teach you about a new city as well as living there. Signing onto temporary housing, such as a sublet, allows you to try out a location, and scope out the rest of the city, without committing to a full, year-long lease right away.

In Boston, the majority of apartment leases have a September 1st start date, so I sublet a room for my first summer before finding longer term housing. This gave me the chance to see which neighborhood I might like best here, factoring in my commute, things to do in the area, and neighborhoods with more young people to get to know.

3. Study the local metro map

For the first few months of living in Boston, I would spend parts of my daily commute looking over the map of our subway and bus system, the MBTA, while listening to music. Even though it was not the most entertaining way to pass the time, it gave me a good sense of how to get around Boston early on during my time here.

Then, a couple of months after I moved to Boston, the MBTA had a sudden emergency shutdown during my commute home, stranding me downtown. This forced me to quickly find a different route home, amidst the masses of other commuters also trying to get on board temporary shuttles. Since I had been often studying the metro map during my commutes, I was able to jump onto one of these shuttles with a destination of a station that I had never been to but vaguely knew was close enough to home.

4. Regularly visit spaces that reflect your interests

One of the best ways to make friends and build community in a new place is to often go to places built around your personal interests and hobbies. If you enjoy sports, join a sports league. If you like gardening, join a community garden near you or volunteer at a local growing center. Additionally, I like keeping an eye out for posters around the city with information about public events I might be interested in. Even if I cannot make a specific event, I will usually follow their socials to keep updated on future events.

5. Take walks off your normal route

I would have never found some of my favorite places to visit in Boston if not for random walks off my usual path. For example, I discovered my favorite store, a secondhand craft supply store, after accidentally taking a wrong turn on the way to buy groceries. Now, I try to often take walks around the neighborhood where I have not been before to find new places and foods to try.

Moving to a new city can certainly be an overwhelming experience, especially if, like me, you have never lived in a large city before. However, trying early on to familiarize yourself with both the unique and mundane aspects of your new home — as outlined in the tips listed above — can help you start to feel more comfortable sooner and to make the most out of city living. Plus, the experience of beginning again in a city can teach you so much about yourself and what you want out of future living experiences. Personally, I have learned from my time in Boston how much I appreciate living in a walkable neighborhood and having regular access to outdoor spaces. Thanks to this opportunity, I now know more of the values I would like to see in the next place I live. So while moving can be a great challenge, it also provides a valuable experience that is well worth starting anew.