Sweet Solstice

This year, the December solstice is on December 21st, at 22:23 UTC. In the Northern Hemisphere of our beautiful blue ball, it is the shortest day of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the longest. This is because equinoxes and solstices are opposite on opposite sides of the planet.

For those living in the Northern Hemisphere, we are in Winter. A season of dormancy. One of darkness. It is chillier – downright bitter cold for some. The December Solstice marks a “turning of the Sun” where the days get longer. Painfully, slowly get longer – but longer, nonetheless.

During this time, go against the norm. Embrace the Darkness. Relish this as a time of Rest. Lean into the Waiting and anticipation of the season.

Darkness. The peaceful arrival of night. The settling into the evening. Candle lit dinners with loved ones. Reading by firelight. Snuggling under the blankets. Maybe heading to bed just a little earlier. Full. Enlightened. Curled up. Loved. All this in Darkness.

Rest. No time for it. And yet we are almost always tired. But the darkness whispers. Come. Rest. Sit with me.

Wait. We fight waiting. Oh my, how we fight it. Too much to do. To little time to do it. But the darkness gifts us with the time to wait. From twilight to sunrise. Every day.

Let the December solstice remind us to contemplate the beauty of Darkness, which asks us to rest in it and peacefully wait.