By the time you read this, mother earth will have completed a six month nose dive into the darkest day of the year.
Or, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll be closing the curtains on the longest daylight day of the year.
Either way, annual solstice events are stupendous feats of cosmic engineering. Think about it…. a six billion trillion chunk of rock pivots with nail biting precision twice a year to deliver the shortest and longest days of the year.
Winter solstice is my favorite. What about you? I love how it reveals Gaia’s geeky intelligence. But more than this, I love natures generosity which pours out of the void as wisdom.
It may take more than a glance to appreciate the gift of darkness but the exploration is worth it.
Darkness is not what it appears to be
Back in my twenties and early thirties by the time winter solstice rolled around I reliably felt depressed. At that time I lived in London where, on a typical winter day, the sky hung like a blanket of gray clouds, heavy and low.
I used to console myself with the belief I had SAD (seasonal affective disorder) but my assumption and attempts to cope were smashed when I woke up one dull gray morning.
As my eyes opened two things happened side by side. One. I saw low gray clouds hanging outside the window. Two. I saw only light.
Soft, ultra-fine light permeated the clouds, sky, my room and my mind.
The light was subtle. It was not full-blast-height-of summer-light. It was irrefutable light in the darkness.
For a moment my brain was befuddled and excited. “What’s going on?”, it said, “this doesn’t make sense”.
It was a dreary cloudy day and my experience was light filled. Go figure.
By now my entire sensory system had kicked into gear. And this strange new world became even stranger because I didn’t feel the expected, usual depression.
My mind somersaulted between two apparent opposite realities and yet kept landing in the undeniable presence of light.
Long story short, this unexpected morning was the last time I was depressed.
I had realized that what my mind perceived as foreboding, heavy and negative obscured the truth about who I am and what life really is.
This understanding took root and continues to heal and transform my life in the direction of greater peace and joy.
Darkness transforms and heals
What about you? How does darkness show up in your life?
Depression, disappointment, anger, anxiety, hurt, rejection, shame, insecurity, addiction, envy…..there are many variations.
No matter how darkness appears, what if darkness is an invitation to turn inwards?
To open to pain, to the void. Be with it. Sit lovingly with it.
Hold steady.
To touch the dark with your heart to discover, miraculously, that you are equipped to see in and through the dark.
To see the hidden gift of your true nature shining in the center of simply being who you are.
And this light at the center of who you are sheds new light and love on all and every single atom of your life.
Reveals fresh potential, possibilities and new depths of wonder, awe and happiness.
However you celebrate the turn of the year, I want to thank you for joining with me and countless friends of the heart, known and unknown, around the world on this path to uncover who you really are.
May the new year bring you closer to the light of your true self. And may you shine as bright as the brightest star in the deep dark night.
Love,
Fiona
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