Solstice Reflections: Liz Coleman

Solstice Reflections 2011 is an online gathering of reflections by seven lovely women on the spirit of winter and the migration from darkness to light. My hope is that they may offer you a momentary respite from a sometimes hectic season, allowing you to sit with your own reflections as you enter your personal winter. Click here for all posts to date.

~~~

dormant

What is it about darkness and diminishment that’s profoundly hard for me? Like so many people in our culture I want it always to be getting better and better and for the sky to be blue forever. I resist loss, I resist darkness, both literal and figurative. I fight it all the time, with a smile on my face and an act that I’m not pushing anything away. I like to think I’m very Zen and totally cool with the great cycles of life, but deep inside, in a place I’m hardly conscious of, I’m dancing as fast as I can to keep it all sunshine and roses.

For me, autumn is a great invitation to learn from my teachers, the trees. It’s a beautiful opportunity to surrender, to let the act go. And maybe I’m making some progress. I used to dread fall, I used to hate the winter landscape, thinking it looked like everything was dead. Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s paying attention, maybe it’s just admitting that that’s how I saw everything, but I’m starting to get this dormant thing, this fallow thing. There’s almost a relief now when the trees drop their leaves, like I can start releasing things from my life, too. I can let go of things that no longer serve me. And that I can not know what will happen next. That I can just rest in the source and wait.

And the lovely thing is that with or without my faith in it, the days do stop getting shorter, the pendulum swings and every day there’s a little more light, until, of course, there isn’t.

~~~

Liz Coleman lives in the Tennessee countryside with her sweet hubby and flocks of songbirds.

(Note from Steph: You can find Liz and read more of her writings on her blog, Enjoy and Love.)

Solstice Reflections: Juliette Crane

Solstice Reflections 2011 is an online gathering of reflections by seven lovely women on the spirit of winter and the migration from darkness to light. My hope is that this may offer you a momentary respite from a sometimes hectic season, allowing you to sit with your own reflections as you enter your personal winter. Click here for all posts to date.

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Some of my favorite things about the winter solstice…

kids on sleds and ice lanterns

feeling small around the tallest of tall costumes

paper bag lights

dancing and

drumming around an enormous bonfire

letting go of lanterns and watching them disappear into the sky

appreciating the quiet

making snow angels

the winter blue sky

everything going white

walks in the snow

snow hanging on to heavy branches

and forming covered walkways that seem to be secret passageways.

~~~

Juliette Crane is a full-time artist and adventurer. She loves nature, handmade things, and finding beauty everywhere in the world. Whenever possible, she paints outside, mostly in the grass surrounded by flower gardens and the tallest trees. She is an avid gardener and enthusiastic cook and would be delighted to have you over for dinner. When she's not teaching painting workshops, travelling, and creating art in gardens around the world, she lives with her bluegrass singing husband Brian in Madison, Wisconsin. Read more about her adventures on her blog: juliettecrane.blogspot.com.

Solstice Reflections: Jo-Anne Guimond

Solstice Reflections 2011 is an online gathering of reflections by seven lovely women on the spirit of winter and the migration from darkness to light. My hope is that this may offer you a momentary respite from a sometimes hectic season, allowing you to sit with your own reflections as you enter your personal winter. Click here for all posts to date.

~~~

I am thrilled to be included in this virtual gathering and humbled to be in the company of these wonderful women…

  the winter solstice.

an invitation

to cross the threshold from Darkness

to Light.

the winter solstice.

reminding us

that the potential lies within each of us

that the creative power

flows out of the Silence and the Darkness

leading us to a place of Joy and Peace.

the winter solstice.

an invitation to trust the Darkness

while readying ourselves

to be the Light.

-jag

~~~

JO-ANNE GUIMOND (a.k.a. jag) has lived in Ottawa for over 25 years.  Originally from New Brunswick, she often relies on her camera to help her take a step back from the busy-ness of Life and provide her with the simple focus of her Acadian roots.  An amateur photographer through n’ through, she strives to see the extra in the ordinary and is especially drawn to the integration of words & image and, what she calls, “messages from the Universe”.  Jo-Anne has recently challenged herself by embarking on a 365 photo journey and – although she has come close to quitting more than once – she is bound & determined to make it to the finish line! You can see the path she had travelled thus far at journey 365:: 2011.

Solstice Reflections: Welcome

Winter came down to our home one night

Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow;

And we, we were children once again.

~ Bill Morgan, Jr.

.:.

I've always liked images of winter. They soothe me, calling me to slow down and take stock.

The expansive white landscape gives me space to breathe, a snow-laden canopy of trees offers shelter, moon diamonds on the snow fill me with magic.

December and the Winter Solstice hold a special place in my heart. They remind me to focus on the cozy, hearth and home. They draw me inward, allowing me to hunker and rest before the new year ushers me into action and renewal.

warmth in a wool blanket

It's why I've chosen to highlight the official arrival of winter in the past and why I choose to highlight it again here, now, with the help of other kindred spirits.

During the next three weeks leading up to December 22nd I will offer guest posts from seven lovely women to help welcome winter, its rituals and its transformations - each woman interpreting the subject through the medium of her choice.

I am warmed and humbled by the contributions I've seen, by the pieces of themselves these women have chosen to share with me and with you. Please join me in honouring them?

And while you're at it, my hope is that this space may offer you a momentary respite from a sometimes hectic season, allowing you to sit with your own reflections as you enter your personal winter.

A momentary space to be.

Wishing you warmth and peace,

Stephanie

Solstice Reflections: December 1 - 21

Seven lovely women helping me welcome winter, its spirit, its rituals, offering their interpretation of the season and its transformations.

A series of reflections on the Winter Solstice, starting this Thursday, December 1st.

Join us?