Thursday, December 22, 2016

On Winter Solstice










The day began as any other, me and my mat in front of the fire, finding peace and calm with yoga and meditation. It was a quiet and comforting way to bring in winter solstice, and welcome the returning light.

Once centered for my day, an excited little man was up and celebrating in his own way, the shortest day and longest night of the year, by gearing up and heading outside. It was a beautiful morning, and we enjoyed some time outside in the yard together before coming in for breakfast.

The rest of the day was slow and easy. Time in the woods.....hiking, building ice fairy homes, following tracks and soaking up Mother Nature. Back at home we dug out the fire pit, lit a fire and let the light of the fire guide us into the darkest night of the year.

I took a few quiet moments to reflect on the last year as I sat by the fire, and then I slowly opened my journals from the last two years and added them page by page to the fire. It was therapeutic to watch as each page burned in the flames, pages of my story, my fears, my hurts, my loves, my life. I used a lot of those pages to work through the most difficult time of my life and that time is over now, and so the pages have served their purpose, and were no longer needed. Following the burning of those pages, I placed in the fire my intention bundle for the coming year. Written in the bundle are my hopes and dreams for the coming year, the things I want to accomplish, and the intentions I want to carry with me into 2017. It's a tradition I started quite a few years ago, and one I hold dear to my heart.

As the fire died on our solstice evening, what remained was our own light. It is that light that we will carry forward with us into the new year, a year that I have a feeling is going to be ridiculously amazing!

Happy Winter Solstice, my friends. May the returning light shine bright on you and your family. 

14 comments:

  1. whoa! That is brave! I bet you felt free after the burning. I miss doing yoga but my back continues to give me mild grief. Now I am trying to accept where I am physically and doing what I CAN do. (I do some yoga as long as it is not spinal twisting...). Happy Solstice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I felt very free Karen, but truthfully I have felt that way for quite some time...this was just the final step.

      I hope your back heals soon.

      Merry Christmas.

      Delete
  2. Ridiculously amazing year for a ridiculously amazing you. That is my wish!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you my friend. You know I wish the same for you too. Much love, and big hugs. xo

      Delete
  3. So so beautiful! Happy Solstice 💕 You sound like you are in a great place and I can feel your peace in the words you wrote. We celebrated very similarly as you but this year, for the first time, with our little homeschool community. It was amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jen. In a really good place, and feeling at peace with this journey I am on. I hope you enjoyed your celebrations, I just took a peek at your post, and it looks like it was lovely. xo

      Delete
  4. Sounds like you had a wonderful and most memorable Solstice. We have a tradition of writing down our hopes and aspirations for the year to come and reading those from the year before. It’s interesting to see how things came to be and how things changed. Burning your journal must signal a turning point for you. I cannot imagine that being easy but at the same time I think it would be such a cleansing experience. Many blessings to you and your sweet little (not so little now) man for the year to come. :) ❤

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that sounds like a fun idea too....

      It was actually really easy, it was time, and yes, cleansing indeed.

      Thank you, wishing you a beautiful holiday season. xo

      Delete
  5. Happy solstice to you!

    I love the burning of the journals for the past years. I've never thought of doing that even though many of my journals have served their purpose. It is a beautiful tradition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. It was exactly the perfect way to end this year and start new...I am ready for whatever awaits.

      Merry Christmas!

      Delete
  6. I have not thought of burning old journals, though I have certainly written events or moments of my life that I have need to work through...and let go of...and watched those burn. I love that you used solstice to take the time to do that. It's amazing how going through those steps and watching what you've written burn, can truly feel so freeing.

    Warmest wishes to you and Reece in the 2017. xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a very therapeutic practice, and really allows you to let go. The words written in those journals have helped me work through a lot of stuff, and honestly aren't really meant for anyone else to read, and so burning them makes sense to me. Those blank pages served their purpose, and I no longer need them. It's a beautiful moment when you realize you have finally healed, fully.

      Hope you are well my friend, and all the best to you and your beautiful family in 2017. xo

      Delete
  7. I hope you had a merry Christmas Kim and wish all the best for you and your little man for 2017!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Karin-Ida, I wish the same for you and your family too. xo

      Delete