I missed the eclipse this year. I didn’t travel to the “belt”, I didn’t get the sunglasses, I didn’t do anything but notice an odder shade of shadow accompanying the day-time clouds as I walked from my physical therapy appointment to home.
But now the winter solstice is here. And it reminds me of “standing still”, or more appropriately, of “holding.” I think this year I am going to dispense with emphasizing the candles and the holly and the light and the darkness.
Stuff takes time. Life takes time; life rolls on. Too often my sense of time is framed by a series of small, discreet events. I see the world as leading up to this or that task, and when the task is happening, it is all but over. The world “stands still” until I complete this goal, whether it be going to the grocery story or graduating from a degree program, for example.
I get a mild case of performance anxiety during moments of public speaking, for example “but it will be all over in just 45 minutes!”
Solstice, for all the emphasis that we put on darkness, light, hope, is not about these alone. After all, the folks in the southern hemisphere are experiencing summer solstice.
The very word “solstice” means the “sun stands still.” More appropriately, It appears to pause.
Pause, and listen to the the delicious truth that wanders into that pause. The sun is incapable of pausing, truly. But we have choice.
Brightest Blessings, be at peace; drink joy. Pause.