I get out of bed to meditate and appreciate the darkness while awaiting the sunrise.
I have gotten up in the dark at a time I would be in full swing of the day in summer. Yet, this time of year has a different rhythm which I respect and embrace: short days, long nights, cold full moons, and the expectation of winter rains.
Winter Solstice
December 21st or so is the winter solstice, marking the peak of this time of darkness, as it is the tipping point to an increase in light towards summer.
The word solstice is derived from “sol” meaning the sun and “stistere” meaning “to stand still.” Indeed, the sun does appear to rise and set at about the same time, the same place before moving in the opposite direction while days lengthen. From about now until the new year, the pendulum of seasonal flow is changing direction, giving us that moment where things appear to be suspended and not moving.
It is our opportunity to rest, embrace the darkness, and immerse ourselves in the Silence to be imbued with its gifts. People in our society tend to shy away from these because we are so focused on activity, productivity, and distraction from the inner world lest we find it bankrupt.
Constant stimulation seems to assure us that we are alive, but what is it not allowing us to access?
Accessing Our Purpose
Stopping and getting silent for introspection can get us in touch with our deepest desires and see how we are fulfilling our purpose. By standing still ourselves, taking a moment away from activity and distraction, we can embrace this time of year and allow it to support us in our annual flow of living. We can find out how we can truly live in alignment with our deepest impulses and with the cycles of Nature.
I take the opportunity to spend more time meditating, then taking the time to ask myself questions about how I want to show up in the world and documenting the answers. Posting a summary next to my desk reminds me during the year the bigger picture.
What Makes Me Happy
One document is a mind map of “what makes me happy.” I use this mind map as a special way to organize ideas so that I can paint a picture of my best life with short phrases and words.
That phrase “what makes me happy” is prominent in the middle. Surrounding it in a different color are the areas of my life in which I see happiness: loving supportive relationships, making with my hands, health fitness abundant energy, freedom, and making the biggest impact as a thought leader.
Under each of those categories, I list what it looks like. For example, I “walk in Nature with strong muscles” and have “possessions actively used or deeply cherished” and am “surrounded by like-hearted people.”
The listing keeps going until I feel it completely describes the life I see for myself. It can change slightly from year to year, as I refine my focus. For example, what I defined as a “specialist to get back get-up-and-go” has now become an “attractor of Total Health Activation community.”
Today, looking at this mind map of what makes me happy fills me with gratitude that I am happy as well as thanks that this is what my life looks like. However, a reminder on paper has not always been enough.
I was not always this filled with light during the darkness of winter. Even looking at what fills my life to make me happy was not quite hitting the mark in happiness. It is hard to know exactly all of what went into the seasonal slump, but I identified a physical component that I could do something about.
Not Happy?
As Halloween faded into Thanksgiving, and December hit in years past, I lost motivation for doing the simplest things. It was too cold when I got out of the shower, so I would only shower a couple of times a week. It seemed like too much work to clean my dishes before I went to bed, so they sat there for a few days until it became intolerable, and I would grudgingly clean up. I would rather sit and read a book than go out with friends. It seemed that I had to use willpower to get the ordinary chores of the week done, and you know willpower fades as you use it. I showed up for the most important things, then after that, so what?
I also sat with what I was feeling, noticing it was slow and heavy. I wondered if it could be called depression, although it had nothing to do with the situations where I found myself. My life seemed fine, but my mood did not feel fine.
I wondered how I could have Seasonal Affective Disorder in Arizona but decided to try using a lightbox treatment anyway. By exposing myself to 30 minutes of full-spectrum (minus the damaging rays) light in the early morning, my life subtility changed.
Or maybe it was that it did not change. This year, I never lost motivation, in fact, sometimes I find myself stopping to clean out a drawer that had become disorganized. I stop to sweep the porch of leaves, clean my dishes after I have used them, and enjoy my showers because I had a heater put in. I notice the little things of life take care of themselves, and don’t weigh on my mind.
I know this is beyond finding the right attitude by looking at my “what makes me happy” map; it is taking care of the physical too. At the solstice we look for the return of the ascendancy of light, and by adding a little extra morning light in this season of the most darkness, it has made a difference for me. (Note that this is not screen light, and it is not light in the evening.)
In the Peak of Darkness
Day and night cycles allow us to visit darkness every 24 hours, and we can welcome the rest and renewal of sleep.
However, a whole season of darkness gives us a different opportunity. It only comes once a year at the winter solstice that Nature supports us through the darkness to stop and introspect and deeply rest for renewal. Ironically, what helped me with my ability to introspect and find the gifts of the darkness was a little extra morning light.
What will you do this winter solstice to embrace the Silence and Stillness and discover their gifts?
How will you sit still to be in tune with the sun?
How can Nature support you while you do this?
How can I support you to do this?
