In the northern hemisphere, solstice is a time when many people reflect upon the small beginnings of the return to light. People reflect on making choices and on making room.
Some people find room in religious and cultural celebration. Some people find it in nature. Some find it in quiet contemplation or added rest.
For me, the next five days will have some added quiet. Some longer walks in my neighborhood. Some longer rides on my stationary bike. For me, the next five days will also have some added company. Family in shared meal, or on Zoom for shared screen.
I love the feeling of pause.
Gunilla Norris is a person I continue to enjoy reading. Her words have a way of creating calm and of adding perspective that celebrates the inner world.
Again from her book, Inviting Silence, and from a chapter on Making Choices,
“The relief when unnecessary stimulation is removed is amazing.
As we listen to the body’s wisdom and attend to it
we are approaching some comfort with silence.
More and more in every day we begin to be aware
when things are too much or too frequent:
amounts of food on our plates,
appointments in our daytimers,
talk on the telephone,
hours in front of the computer.
These can take us away from presence in the present.“
Here’s to making room. Any of us. All us us. Among us. And to amazing relief found uniquely in the present moment.
