This holiday season is not going the way the world had hoped. The best laid plans have been upended. We are once again struggling with what feels like deja vu. Haven’t we been through this already?
Determined to fight any feeling of melancholy, I’m once again taking my cues from nature.
It’s the winter solstice today. The shortest day of the year. But, from tomorrow, the days begin to grow. Albeit by just one minute a day, it’s a positive development. Psychologically, this single fact shifts my attitude – I feel so much better. I take it as a sign of hope and positivity. Frankly, what other option is there? I simply must believe that things will improve.
As I walk around the garden, I start noticing other signs of hope. Furry buds on the magnolia tell me to expect a lovely show in a few months. On the climbing hydrangea, the buds like long grains of rice sit tight and firm as though letting the world know that they’re here on a mission. I reach beneath last years leaves and gently dig around at the base of the hellebores – sure enough, I see the early signs of growth. All of this is so full of promise. What at first appears to be a garden in hibernation is really one where life is very much happening. It never stopped.
I’m being guided to see the hope. Light will return and spring will burst forth again.
I step back into the house renewed and ready to embrace the quiet joys of winter.
Note: The two poems below were written in previous Decembers and I’m happy to revisit them from time to time. They remind me to lean into the light.
Dark And Light
The light of day
sparkles honest
Cobwebs shimmer
rewards promised
Hope soars
confidence shines
Courage accompanies
mountains to climb
Sunrises occasion
plans anew
Clarity surfaces
Beliefs ring true
Nightfall arrives
slow and sure
Shadows lurk
luring fear
Darkness imposes
time to remember
Review, regret
call to surrender
Sunsets precede
hidden dreads
Anxiety reigns
awake in bed
Reality lies
in plain sight
there’s nothing in the dark
that’s not there in the light.
******
Trimming The Tree
Love hangs memories
on awaiting arms
twinkling happy thoughts
as new stories get written.
While the past is shared
the present unfolds itself
into the future.
(c) 2021 Shobha Vanchiswar
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