December 21, 2023
Rather than wait for the buzz and ball of New Year’s to review one’s progress and set new intentions, we might attune ourselves to the rhythms of nature and take this moment of the Winter Solstice as an opportunity for reflection.
(It’s a rather arbitrary date, isn’t it, January 1st, to think about what worked, what went wrong, what to accomplish, what goals to set. A random confetti-filled, champagne-fueled countdown to leave behind the weight of difficulties past and feel the relief of a new horizon approaching).
Today is the darkest day and also the longest night—
the moment on the cusp of balance
—between seasons of light and dark.
As the poet David Whyte says, “Time to go into the dark / where the night has eyes / to recognize its own.”
I invite you to go in.
To reflect on what to release and what to gather in. To name what challenges you and speak aloud your longings. To let go and burn it all up in the dark. To recognize that the past as passed and manifest the opportunities ahead.
For this is also the moment where we welcome the coming of the light.
Name the nourishment, the skills and habits, the people and pleasures you will grow in the new soil of the year.
May you be blessed with the gifts of your intentions. And may you draw courage from the passage through the dark.