It’s common to see the Holidays as the big 3: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. There are, of course, others in and around that time including Hanukkah and Kwanza and New Years which remind us that the holidays are about more than merchandising. I tend to look at things a bit differently by seeing the Holiday season as being a 3 part process: Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Years. Each of these is a chance to enter into winter and the new year in a healthy way instead of barreling into it like a drunken reveller and ending up with a life-hangover in January.
Winter Solstice, for me, is the time to turn inwards and reflect on what I have done and been, accomplished and released during this year. It’s the time to be done with everything except the celebration to come at Christmas and let the soothing darkness settle me into a quieter rhythm. It’s a time to see within myself the light that I am and have become during this year and to rejoice and delight in it. That’s not to say that I allow it to create a sepia toned perfect picture of what has been, but I do let myself gentle and relax so I can see my mistakes and misfires with common sense and good humor, take the lessons that I’ve learned and add them to my store of wisdom rather than beating myself senseless with them. It’s a time for letting the light within me illuminate all the good things I’ve done and really take them in. To see the progress I’ve made, to acknowledge who I’ve become and give myself the validation I’m due.
In the warm candle light that is the mirror image of my own inner light, I can say thank you to all the possibilities I have encountered this year, appreciate all the successes, learn from the fails, and therefore be ready to party with my loved ones when Santa comes to town.