This morning I awoke with the sunlight. The kids started break this week and it has been a welcomed rhythm to be slow in the mornings as we await the light. I always prefer moving in life with the light.
Sipping my coffee as the kids watched some morning cartoons, I looked at the heavy gray skies outside on this Solstice morning. The sunrise was bland. The day was washed flat by the warming temps on the dusted landscape, with the trees standing bare on the hills. It felt void, exactly as this day should be on the year's shortest day. Some don’t like these days, but to me, they are vital to understanding the value of summer’s vibrancy. How can we ever know how abundant and wonderful life is if we don’t experience the darker and blander days?
I started stringing words in my head watching the sparrows nab seeds still left in the garden. I do this often. The words often turn to nothing, just ramblings, but sometimes they feel like something. I am unsure if it is a poem or just strung words when I write these pieces, but sometimes they just come as they are through my head—saying little while saying a lot. So, I felt I would share it with you.
Happy Winter Solstice! May what you leave behind be what feeds you to garner the energy to rise to the light in the coming months.
Paid Subscribers, your Winter Guide will be posted this afternoon. I am making a few final tweaks this morning, but it is my favorite guide to date. If you want access, simply become a member.
You can use the link below to get 20% off an annual subscription to start the year on this Winter Solstice.
Winter Solstice
heavy, low gray skies.
farewells lingering on the scent of wood smoke.
white coated forest floors under the bare branches.
garden decaying.
the last seeds feeding the birds.
offerings from another time.
hush.
grief hung on the glowing tree.
heaviness sitting on my heart.
the candle burning.
children shining in the light.
joy comes next to sadness —
unlikely but common friends.
silence.
reflecting on what was.
releasing what wasn't.
every year refining us.
every year another chapter we luckily write.
we cannot carry the world.
we cannot carry what we no longer can use.
burn.
the light low.
the sun set.
red flame over the southern hills.
the glow gone.
this is the end.
this is where we start anew.
rise.
Thanks for all your support this year. As always the best way to support my work is to share with others. It always means a lot when you do.
I wake up tomorrow knowing my part of the world will get lighter. I live in Helsinki, Finland and made it to the shortest day of year-Only 5.48 minutes of daylight! I don’t mind the darkness here as I find it somewhat comforting. Lovely poem and Happy solstice!