The Turning of the Wheel

"With the changing seasons come new beginnings."

The year's end is almost here. Review, reflection and resolutions seem to be the themes on everyone's mind. We treat the happening of this event as if we are stepping into a abrupt new horizon, not yet known, both full of hopes and fears that we carry with us from the old. As I have gotten older I have begun to see and experience it as the turning of the wheel of seasons, a motion gentle and gradual. The experience guided by the rhythm of nature. There is aways one startling aspect related to nature though that I see at this time now that I live in the West. It contrasts with the Midwest/East Coast exposure of the earlier years of my life. That is the arrival of citrus fruit in the holiday season. Seeing it come to fruition seems an act of magic. Something so bursting with life in what I still perceive as a barren time of year.  It's a lesson that each season while bringing continuity dichotomously brings new beginnings.

Chicago,  "Beginnings":

Under the Christmas Moon

  

"The light of the Christmas star to you. The warmth of home and hearth to you. The cheer and goodwill of friends to you.”

-Sherryl Woods 

As I drove home with my sister we observed the almost full moon coming up. It was a day of family visits, calls to friends and good food. It was 17 years ago I started this blog. While a couple of years were missed, it has somehow found its way back to me each time I thought I had somehow lost it. Such is our lives. Each time we think the path is blocked and there is no way ahead a miracle of light occurs and we find our way out of darkness. This is my wish for the world. May our journey towards 2024 bring light into our troubled psyche and the balm of peace to our souls.

J.S. Bach, "Christmas Oratorio",

 

 

 

 

Night into Light

 

“Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we celebrate the darkness as it is in its fullest influence. The once fertile forests are now bare and awaiting their rebirth. The surrounding shadows whispering to us of our natural-born powers. And the knowledge of a convergent awakening.”

                                                                      -Dacha Avelin 

Tonight brings the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. I just walked Teagan after dealing with several hours of working with clients to find light in the midst of the darkness. All around I found homes festooned with light, including my own. I looked up and saw the patterns of stars shining down. Being not to far from the airport, planes sailed overhead flashing their light against the darkness taking people to holiday destinations, carrying the hopes and fears for a holiday that might bring celebration and growth or the darkness of old patterns.

So far in this life journey I have made, I have been lucky enough to find I have always been able to travel out of the night into light.  This is my hope for all that their journey's bring them to the knowledge that night will is necessary and will bring the rebirth into light.

Antiphony, "Solstice Carol":

                                                                          

Bringing Into Being

 

And I don't think the garden loses its ectasy in the winter. It's quiet down there. But the roots are riotous.

-Rumi

Coming to Arizona has had it's issues persononally, politicially and socially.  As I indicated leaving California was partially due to changes I never expected to see. There is much I miss about California, but much I have learned to appreciate about Arizona. Adjusting to being closer to my family and realizing how we see each other is rooted in our childhood trauma. Getting to see each other as the adults we have become and have been living as has been a challenge. Growing older and seeing myself as a woman in a culture that would have me become invisible has brought about new ways of existence and being.

We are approaching the solstice and I reflect that I am seeking to live the ectasy of life in the winter. And not only this season that we are in but all that are coming. It's again a challenge, but isn't that the purpose of living, a constant bringing into being that which we have been, are and becoming.

Mediaeval Baebes, " Noel Nouvelet":

And So This is Christmas

 

  

And so this is Christmas and what have you done?

-John Lennon

The answer to the that is plenty. After "retiring" from the dialysis world, I had surgery and went into telehealth. I left California to be closer to my family and to leave behind an unfortunately unsafe world....

         As mentioned I have my first house and love it. I arrived in the middle of a record heat wave. I made it through the summer, bolstered my telehealth practice and have been a major domestic goddess. It's been a slow process of healing and adjusting to the changes, but the journey is on.

Sarah Maclachlan, "Happy Xmas":

  

  

  

Moving On

A dog is for life, not just for Christmas. 

Anonymous

 

After months of struggling with getting my blog back up and running. It happened! So much change. I'm no longer a California resident. I'm now in Arizona with my family and in a house. Doing therapy for people and finding a new journey. 

Teagan is a joy and a blessing. 

More to come.

Vince Guilardi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas: