The Shortest Day

 

The solstice is an ancient marker of endings and beginnings. The "Winter Solstice" and the start of the "winter" season, will arrive at 4:02 CST or 7:59 am PST Monday morning, December 21st. While it is our shortest day, it’s also the beginning of our days getting longer. 

From now on, the sun sets each day just a little bit later.  And we inch our way from darkness into more and more light, from cold winter to warm summer. 

Cultures celebrate with many rituals. Fires and dancing and feasting. The Celtic people believed the sun stood still for 12 days and burned a log using the remains fo the previous year’s fire. They believed it would conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year. And why many still honor this belief by burning a ‘Yule’ log for 12 days starting on the Solstice. 

Let’s say goodbye to darkness. 

I think we’ve all been through enough dark, difficult, scary months this year. Even when the weather was sunny and warm, I felt the chill of fear up my spine. I worried about my children. My children’s babies. My husband. My friends. My neighbors. I waited in long lines for TP with a mask on my face. I scrubbed and sanitized and held my breath. 

I held my breath again waiting for election results. I worried and fretted some more. Four years has seemed like an eternity watching and waiting for the darkness to lift. 

New light. 

Today as the sunrises on the shortest day of the year, I’m going to look ahead knowing each day will bring a little more light and less dark. That each day, I’m going to see fewer worried eyes around me as more and more of us get vaccinated. That each week will bring more good news and less bad. That month by month, we will be lifted up and away from fear.

So maybe this, the shortest day, will be the ending of a very bad year. And our first step toward a new beginning. When changes that have been a long time coming, will shine new light into the minds, souls and hearts of us all. 

Happy Solstice!

Solstice: The light returns

Today, on my side of the world, it’s the slow tilting of the globe from shorter to longer days. Everyday from now on brings more daylight and less darkness. Many cultures around the world celebrate the solstice so it’s no coincidence that Christmas also falls around this time. 

I’m always interested in how different cultures celebrated the winter solstice around the world before the arrival of Christianity. Since my ethnic background is Celtic, I did a quick internet search for some specifics of their traditional celebrations.

Druids, Celtic shamans, cut mistletoe, a symbol of life from the sacred oak trees, to give as blessings. The Yule log was also a Druid custom to light the darkest 12 days in winter, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the new year. Bright colored objects would be hung on pine trees to symbolize the sun, moon and stars as well as the souls of friends and relatives who had died.

As I found many of our current holiday decorations, traditions, foods and celebrations began with our ‘pagan’ ancestors. It just shows how important it is to our bodies, minds and souls to connect with the world that holds us and the universe that surrounds us. 

Let the light in. 

How hard life was then. Yet even with all our technology, innovations and inventions, we still struggle with darkness. Night falls. Seasons change. Life is a cycle of birth, growth and death. 

Our ancestors around the globe were wise. They survived and thrived by honoring the importance of light from the sun and the soul. 

How do we find a way through it all? By letting light in. Even if it’s just a pinprick of sun, a candle flame, a twinkle of a light through a window. 

Most important is finding the light inside our souls. 

Solstice. 

Soul. 

It’s synchronistic. 

We receive light from our planet.  We contain light. And we can give light. 

May the Solstice bring even more light to your soul. 

Whispers Through the Trees

It’s December, a month that means many things to many people. Holidays abound bringing with them many moments and memories both happy and sad. It’s also, the last month of this year and the beginning of a new decade. 

I always get into soul searching mode this time of year. What worked. What didn’t. What I could have done better. What I need to learn more about. As I walk through the woods, I listen for words of wisdom. 

“Be surprised.”

I’ve been in many galleries over the years. Some were good experiences, some not. When I signed on with Art On Broadway in Beaverton, I was very unsure. Would I sell anything at all? Would gallery sitting be weird?

I was wonderfully surprised. I sold. I met wonderful people. I shared my process with fellow artists and art lovers. I learned more about how other artists do their work. I chatted with gallery visitors. And biggest surprise of all, I enjoyed gallery sitting.

“Look but don’t search.”

I don’t know about you but I spend a lot of time searching on my computer. I search for information about supplements to fix my dog’s itching problem. I search for answers to my daughter’s new mom questions. I search for clothes, decorating ideas, health information, art supplies. I search sometimes for absolutely no reason. 

I realize the internet is a wonderful, wacky and wasteful place. I know there’s as much  disinformation as good information. It’s hard to know the difference. And there’s the problem of too much information which sometimes can cause more harm and stress.

The words that came to me, ‘look but don’t search’ bring a more important message. Maybe there’s another way that’s better than searching my mind and soul.

Look up. Look around. Look where you are. Just look. Be aware but not worried. Be alive. Be open to what you see, feel and know when you just look. 

“Open with wide eyes to delight.”

Tis the season, right. All around are bright lights illuminating the darkest time of year. Colors and music and bright, shiny things abound to lighten not just our pocketbooks but our senses and our souls. 

Instead of getting down on all the commercialism surrounding me, what if I just let myself open up to what delights me? Instead of planning and searching and organizing, what if I just let myself look at what is before me? Instead of list making, what if I just let each day present itself as a delightful gift in and of itself?

“Shine.”

I grew up wearing uniforms and being told to cover up, bow my head and play it safe. Now, I’m all for being aware and proactive as I walk through life. You know the song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” I’ve sung that song to my children and now my grandchildren. 

Maybe now, it’s time to sing it to myself.