Winter Solstice...JOY to the world!

The winter solstice occurs this year on December 22nd, 2019 and marks the first official day of winter in the northern hemisphere. It is the day of the year with the least amount of light or the most amount of darkness. While most at the solstice focus on the bleakness of the winter season approaching, I, being a winter baby myself, embrace it in a much more practical and weirdly optimistic way. For me, the first day of winter does not symbolize the long, desolate and cold season ahead (despite being raised in the Midwest and knowing that IS what is in store), rather I LOVE to think of the solstice as the beginning point in the season when the days start to grow longer, the light returns, and the daylight dawns anew! The solstice marks entering back into the return of the Sun. This time of year marks the increase in daylight, the waxing of light filled hours. The time of year when it truly is darkest before the dawn!

You see if you go back to the Moon cycles, the winter solstice is the New Moon moment of the yearly seasonal cycle. Sure the day is the darkest of the year with the least amount of sunlight, but it is also simply a moment in time. For the very next day is the beginning of the return to the Full Moon moment of the yearly seasonal cycle, the June summer solstice, the longest day of the year; the day with the least amount of darkness and the most light. It has always been this way and always will be, for as long as we cycle.

While it is true that winter brings harsh weather and challenges us to remember what it feels like to not have to rub your hands together to keep them warm, simultaneously it is moving us toward that glorious first day of Summer when winter is simply a memory of the past. And so the seasons march forward, as they do, containing both within each. While winter seems bleak and barren it is truly the time of the year when we are marching toward warmth and splendor, the time when worries about survival are minimal and abundance is the order of the day. And while summer seems perpetually fruitful and carefree it is truly the time of the year when we are marching toward the cold and desolation, the time when perseverance and bracing for survival are foremost in our thoughts. It is not either/or but rather AND/BOTH!

The beauty in seeing it this way is that it brings solace because one does not have to choose between the extremes, as they are each contained within the other in a very Yin/Yang way. And within this more broad and all-encompassing perception lays the opportunity to appreciate and be grateful for the entirety of the year, inclusive of both extremes, not pitting one against the other.

During this season when PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TOWARD ALL is a common hope, learning to view things from the other side of the aisle is a good thing. TRUTH is a powerful healer. Instead of arguing perceptions or pitting opposites against each other, learning to see what we share in common is the energy being beckoned forward. AS we heal the divide within so we heal the divide without.

Remember, we are but cycles within cycles, as within, so without; mere reflections of the microcosm within the macrocosm. One is not better than the other, all are contained within the One; we are ALL involved in the cyclic dance of cosmic life. Knowing this, we can heal.

May the LIGHT of the winter solstice shine brightly in your heart and provide warm HOPE for a new dawn!

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season!