12-20-22 Happy Solstice. The Solstice defines the moment when the length of the day again equals the length of the night. Winter’s Solstice means the shorter days of winter will be lengthening and eventually bringing us back to spring. For many, I’m imagining this is cause for celebration, as the days of winter can be physically and emotionally taxing. Yet, for me, winter is a time of slowing down, entering into the stillness on all levels and strengthening and renewing myself.

I live in Lake Tahoe and the winter can often be challenging with lots of snow. It happily forces me to stay at home more because the streets are unsafe to drive. My home is my sanctuary and I often just sit and look around at my sacred clutter. I do have a lot of stuff on walls and tables, but each one reminds me of family, or friends, or a certain time period in my life, or travels, and they all bring a gladness to my heart. Or I use the time to do all the little projects that I don’t make time for the rest of the year when it’s easier to be outdoors all day long. For example, every year I create a picture album from the past year’s photos, whittling them down to a manageable number to print. This year I’m also (re)learning the guitar and scheduling sing-a-longs with my favorite artists. Of course, there’s also more time for reading great books, and just staring at the fire or out at the magnificent forest of my backyard. I slow down enough to enjoy more of the present moment.

So, I would invite you to contemplate these questions for yourself: do I cultivate silent-time activities for myself? Do I have enjoyable pursuits that are separate from my work or service life – in other words, do I know who I am/what I enjoy beyond what I do (for a living)?

Going deeper with wintertime can also be likened to the “womb of darkness that nourishes and restores us” (thank you for that one, Rachel). For most of my life, I was afraid of the darkness, especially the darkness inside of me. I fought with it, I ran from it, I hated it. Gradually, as I did my self-work journey, I learned to look upon the darkness within me and all the difficult periods I went through - or my “dark nights of the soul” – as an opportunity for transformation. Rather than running, I stayed put with it, got still, allowed the Love that was also within me to emerge more and have its voice. I learned all about acceptance, being gentle with myself, knowing I was more than enough, and celebrating myself just the way I showed up. Yes, I learned to love winter and its the stillness. I also loved learning that there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of, or resisted for that matter, in the darkness.

Some more questions to contemplate: Have I cultivated habits of deep self-inquiry? How willing am I to sit in the stillness and face the darkness within so I can transform it? How willing am I to allow Love a chance to talk to me so I can begin to hear Love’s voice as my own? How willing am I to live my life without so much busyness so I can begin to appreciate what’s truly important? Today is a good day...and I make it so! www.everydaywholeness.net