Happy Winter Solstice. Whatever winter festival you celebrate or observe, I hope that you find light and hope in this dark season.
I turned 50 in October. As I approached the end of my first 50 years stomping around on the terra firma, I found myself marking the passage of time with friends and family in interesting ways. For some, the passage of time is a lament. A rending and ceding of youth. For others, it’s a status to be welded with conceit. Not that getting older is a cakewalk, hello menopause. Feeling somewhere in between, I chose to have a croning. This scared ceremony honors elders as wise women and sages. In that ceremony, we marked the passage of time by honoring those that came before us. The lessons we learned and the transformation that only happens through living long enough to bear witness to the profound changes within our bodies, minds, and spirits.
The winter solstice is upon us. The evening of December 21st into December 22nd will be the longest night of the year. With the dawn on December 22nd, the sun will be born anew and another year will begin. It is a moment of stillness and profound power.
This season has never sat well with me. The hustle and bustle is depleting. Don’t get me wrong. I can hustle with the best of them. I am a master mover, to be sure. But the sentiment around this season makes me itchy. Like restless leg syndrome in my spirit, I feel out of control. I don’t like resolutions. Go ahead, fight me on this. I am goal oriented, but I struggle with “a new year, a new me”. What’s so lacking that I would require an overhaul of such magnitude as to be wholly changed on the other side? The goals. The expectations. The emotions. The impossible goal to make the “best ever” holiday. The reminiscing of things best left in the past? Bah humbug!
As I drilled down on this resistance to the flow that surrounds me, I realized that I was in fact out of sync with the natural world. As it turns out, winter is the time for sleep. A time to hunker down and rest. The gathering is done. The lessons learned and wisdom gained require some amount of sifting. When we sleep, not only do we dream, we restore. We process and repair. In the stillness, there is critical work being done. Interrupting that work causes damage at the cellular level. This year’s gift list will include a lie down. A season pass of them.
One thing I love about winter is the lights. Whether candles or strings of lights on trees and houses. I also love bringing nature indoors. The smell of greenery and spices invite me to curl up and get cozy. This year, I will heed the call and do just that. I’m in for some quiet time. I’m going to let in the light and breathe deep. You’re welcome to join me. I’ll see you in 2023, restored and refreshed. Until then, I’ll be dreaming to mark the time.