Honoring Our Journey

The days grow shorter. The Thanksgiving feast is now a memory and my thoughts turn to the rest of the holiday season. The temperature has dropped and today I'm sitting at my computer wearing sweats listening to Christmas music while I enjoy the sound of rain on the patio. Bentley, my feline companion, has made himself comfortable on his favorite chair and we are both appreciating a quiet rainy day.

This is a festive time of year filled with celebrations, shopping, and family gatherings. But it is also the time of year to reflect on the lessons learned, honoring areas of inner growth and expansion. The soul's journey requires tending. 

It is also a time of reflecting on the relationships in life and how we nurture them. Relationships, like our physical and spiritual well-being, need to be tended. What needs to be released and what needs to be nourished? What changes do I want to make and what is working well?

As we move from late fall to winter it is important to note that winter is the final phase of the twelve-month cycle of Earth’s seasons. Like all cycles, winter holds evidence and clues within it about what came before, what is and what will likely be. The energy of winter is an ending and a new beginning. There is increasing darkness, the darkest point and then the shift toward increasing light.

At this time of year I look to nature to show me her rhythm, her way of "being." She is quiet. Her leaves cover the ground, decomposing. During the process of decomposition, the decomposers provide food for themselves by extracting chemicals from organic wastes to produce energy. The decomposers will then produce waste of their own. In turn, this will also decompose, eventually returning nutrients to the soil. These nutrients can then be taken up by the roots of living plants enabling them to grow and develop, so that organic material is naturally recycled. Virtually nothing goes to waste in nature.

During this season of quiet reflection and review, I encourage each of you to recycle your energies. Renew, refresh, and envision the richness of your journey to date and the possibility that lies before you. This is the season we are invited to go within and honor our personal journey. In the darkness of winter, may we find our own light. May we shine and, collectively, may we brighten the world.

Happy Holidays!
Gretchen