On December 21st, the winter solstice arrives, a magical time when the sun begins its gradual journey to return to us the delightful warmth of spring. At once, darkness invites us inward to seek and find sustenance in that eternal, luminous ember at our core, while beckoning us out into the night to enjoy our sparkling stars.
Predating Christianity, we humans have been doing battle with midwinter’s ominous gloom for centuries with solstice rituals of light and fire, celebrating the warmer, brighter days ahead. In Europe the ancient Yule festival survives even today, with the traditional Yule log, believed to frighten away evil spirits.
What a wonderful time to rejuvenate your spirit by appreciating the miracle of our sun and seasons. Take time to contemplate your life. Nothing happens without personal transformation. Could this be just the right time for your best self to start to shine through? Is it time to rediscover the positive, creative being you are inside? What do you love to do, but have denied yourself for ages? Is it drawing, playing music, watercolors, writing, hiking, dancing? Is it painting your surroundings in all your favorite colors? Start focusing on what is dynamic and creative within. What needs to come out now?
Start each day by asking yourself: “What do I want to happen today?” But this time ask for EXACTLY what you want!
May you know yourself at home in the whole of your life. May you know the vast and infinitesimal blessings of your life as a gift. And may you know and share yourself as a source of great LOVE.
Perhaps I will always remember this holiday as the one where I finally accepted the truth about other peoples’ reaction to me. Ah, if I could have totally accepted this truth decades ago, my life would have been so much easier:
You cannot control how other people receive your energy. Anything you do or say gets filtered through the lens of whatever they are going through at that moment, which is NOT ABOUT YOU.
Just keep doing your thing with as much integrity and love as possible.
This includes everything I write about here and in my books. Just because I have chosen to learn enough to understand the psychology of midlife transition or passive solar technology, and appreciate the freedom this knowledge has given to me, does not mean anyone else has a clue what I’m talking about.
Even my parents, who taught me much of what I learned as a child, the ones I thought knew EVERYTHING when I was young, have no idea where I’m coming from with most of my ideas and thoughts today. They are living in their own reality and often do not appreciate mine, but that is not about me.
On some level I’m ashamed that it has taken me this long on this beautiful blue planet to appreciate this truth. But on the other hand, it is so freeing to let each of us be where we are right now.
We continue to search for whatever makes our lives feel better.
Last year at this time, we were just beginning to see an actual home emergefrom our slab, which took us five months to produce! This brings us to my new year’s revelation.
Why not start out 2016 on a note of gratitude? We really do have so much to be thankful for!
Why not let go of the old gripes and channel gratitude for a change? Need a little help? Go here and spend five minutes absolutely FOCUSED on this video. If you absorb this video every day, it WILL change your life.
I just saw the new Star Wars movie yesterday. My favorite line?
“When searching for a sense of belonging, seek not in what is behind you, seek in what is ahead.”
It’s a whole new year! What’s in it for you?
In addition, I just received this marvelous revelation from my niece’s FB page:Drinking champagne helps you fight off Alzheimer’s!Champagne became my favorite drink during construction, and so lets raise our glasses:
Here’s to those who wish us well, all the rest can go to hell!
I am filled with gratitude that I can now live like this forever. Please go learn more about our move from Fort Collins to here in my new memoir and follow us on TWITTER!