Lifelines

Lifelines

I am most comfortable within patterns and rituals. So it is not surprising that I respond to the seasons each year.

As a child, I was very connected to the ritual of the calendar.

Each month I would hand draw a calendar that would include a picture or a “theme” for the month.

Marking the days off one by one was not a means of looking forward to anything. Just marking time. Each day fulfilled and the next yet to be discovered.

December 21st was the darkest day of the year! The winter solstice. While each day moving forward does in fact get a little longer, the next few weeks will be hard.

After the Holiday season, when all the twinkling lights are successfully put away for another year, the darkness becomes pervasive.

In short, I need something to hold to. My Lifeline.

I celebrated the end of a long period of ever shortening days by putting the top down on the Mustang and driving in the sunshine.

The sky was as blue and clear as I have ever seen. And while the top was down (and I was making good use of my daily sunscreen) the heater was blowing and the car was comfortable.

Each winter day, the memory of my day in the sun will be something I can call to mind, a remembrance. A promise of better times ahead.

Another lifeline is approaching, Christmas Eve. Not because of a religious connection, but because I find it the most peaceful and quiet night of the year.

My tradition is to spend this single evening every year with my closest inner circle. My family.

As I am marking my way through next years calendar, I will hold to these lifelines.

My wish for all of us in the new year is PEACE. Peace and a lifeline to help us make it through the dark days of winter and the challenges the new year will bring.

Whatever that lifeline is for you, I wish you PEACE!