The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, the moment in time when the light is at its lowest ebb. Which means that it also marks the moment when, imperceptibly, the earth tilts toward spring, and the light begins to grow.
Where do you find signs of growing light in your life?
“The Holly and the Ivy” is a traditional English Christmas carol, but the symbolism of those two plants goes back even further, as they are Pagan fertility symbols. In the midst of the winter we celebrate with evergreens, finding promise of continuing life in those plants that remain green when so many others are dormant.
What in your life feels dormant, gone into hiding? What feels like it will always be green?
“Is it beyond thee to be glad with the gladness of this rhythm? To be tossed and lost and broken in the whirl of this fearful joy?” writes the poet Rabindranath Tagore. And many of us answer, “Yes, it is beyond me.” The rush of the holiday season can feel like going over Niagra Falls in a barrel, out of control and battered by forces pushing at us from all sides.
How will you find a moment today to simply rest and float?
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.” –Anne Morrow Lidbergh
What gift has come to you when you have been willing to wait without expectation?
In this holiday season when all the talk is of family and being together, a deserted island might strike you as a place of intolerable loneliness, or it might seem like a paradise where you could finally have room to breathe and be yourself. Even the most social of us need moments when we can be alone with our own thoughts.
How will you find a moment today to cherish being by yourself?
