Solstice Reflections: Kelly Letky

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.

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walking my way into winter

cotton-ball snowflakes falling gently on a night with no wind.

tree branches like lace against a lavender sky.

a fresh expanse of snow unmarred by footprints.

glittering.

the fresh smell of winter's morning.

birds calling.

cardinals dotting a hedgerow like oversized berries.

a fire that roars while the wind howls outside.

kittens curled up and basking in the glow.

time to read and hibernate, a little.

forced to slow down.

a little.

dreams of spring and green and gardens.

wrapped in quilts that feel like love.

::

my footsteps crunch their way through this season.

leading me from endings to beginnings.

i catch a snowflake on my tongue.

hold it there.

savoring the flavor.

another solstice.

rising.

::

~~~

Kelly Letky works as a freelance graphic artist and jewelry designer. In addition to those two hats, she also wears those of photographer, writer, wife, mother, sister, daughter, crazy cat lady, friend, runner, knitter and gardener. Beyond that, she makes regular attempts to be kind, caring, loving, generous, artful, and immersed in each and every moment. She writes at www.mrsmediocrity.com and www.thebluemuse.com.

Solstice Reflections: Rebecca Klier

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.

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Snowflake

Tree with berries

Starry Night

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My name is Rebecca. I like to make and create. On any given day I have been known to sew, paint, crochet, glue, draw, knit, hammer, dig, photograph, plant, design, build and sometimes sing really loud in the car (not necessarily at the same time). My subjects are what moves me - watching a plant grow or birds fly or children laughing or a dog snoring.  I don't like to point myself in any one direction as I'm always curious as to what I left behind or what's around that other corner. Will work for Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies.

(Note from Steph: You can enjoy more of Rebecca's words and illustrations at her Website, deutschemexicana.com.)

Solstice Reflections: Jen Lee

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.

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 Listen to Jen's Solstice Reflections podcast:

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Jen Lee is a voice recovery specialist, independent media producer and a beloved performer in New York City’s storytelling scene, including The Peabody Award-winning Moth Radio Hour and The Moth Mainstage. She is a sought-after mentor and guide for workshops and retreats unleashing creative expression, and the creator of Finding Your Voice and Telling Your Story, cutting-edge personal breakthrough courses. Her latest book, The Care and Keeping of Creative Souls: A Manual, is now available.

Bio photo credit: Bella Cirovic (shetoldstories.com)

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.

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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.

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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.