Summer solstice arrives June 20th at 5:44 in the evening and I sense the stirrings of change. Here in Oregon, we still have rain and cool weather but beneath the wet, the roots of the tomatoes and sunflowers are stretching deep into the earth, sensing the vital warmth that is coming and I too am preparing my soil for another season.
Change happens and the seasonal changes assure me that once again, I too will be able to greet this new season and the changes that are yet unknown to me with grace and self compassion. I question myself, can I, like the sunflower that is growing in my garden, find my way to embrace the light and warmth that will come?
This spring has been a challenging one, quarantines, fear of illness, death, injustices....a time when it has been difficult to reconcile the blossoming of the plum and apple trees with the headlines that I am greeted with each morning.
And yet, I have been able to see the trees lose their finery and begin to clothe themselves in their summer greenery. This is my way to find hope, to trust that the wisdom of nature can guide me once more through this changing time. At times, just the act of getting outside, of moving my body, of finding one tiny bird feather is the most difficult thing I do but, in this act, I reconnect with myself and the greater world. I quiet down.
My way is to follow the beauty, to trust my elders, my teachers, my guides and to step into the summer, to find the language that this summer will bring to me and allow it to manifest through creativity and sacred musings of all kinds. Making small images to share with my loved ones, reading poetry, sharing art-making with you and others. Simple practices of daily gratitude while all the while, noticing as the earth moves incrementally toward the light.
I hope you will join me on this journey through summer.