In the deep dark

I've mentioned here before, how I cherish the different seasons, and that I love being back in an area of the world that has four very distinct different times of the years.  I also know that for many Winter is difficult--the lack of light, the biting cold, bad road conditions...you name it.  And while I do not cherish my long drive to and from work when there is little light by which to see the deer waiting to play "frogger", Winter is a wonderful reminder that we all need to rest, to go deeper, to nourish your very roots that sustain us in this world.  And how ironic that in the very time that nature is showing us how to hibernate, we take it upon ourselves to get the most active, the most party-planned, social scheduled, kitchen productive, concert attending creatures around.  This isn't to say that I don't love me some holiday party, music, dance, cookie bake and so on....I do.  But I also think that we need to make sure that we don't try to fit more into the calendar boxes in December than can possibly fit without bringing down the nail in the wall that holds the whole year up!

This year I was gifted with a little extra reminder....a cold.  I have not been sick for a very long time (thankfully!)  and I had forgotten just how much I do NOT enjoy the feeling of lack of energy (including creative energy) along with the aches and pains of the body...if my body is going to ache I want it to be because I had a good workout...not because I sneezed too many time!  However, what this little 'gift' granted me was a number of days at home...almost an entire week actually....and for that I am grateful.  Thankful that I have a nice warm cozy home in which to recover, a loving partner who was very sweet and did what he could to make me feel better and an employer who not only appreciates when their employees don't come to work sick so that they don't pass on their germs, but who genuinely care about the people that work for them and want them to be as healthy and happy as possible.

So as I make my way out of this head could (thankfully!) It feels more like a reminder of my blessings than just an inconvenience and moment of being uncomfortable in a beautiful life.  And with all the shock and sadness of the past week, it feels even more so.  With no solutions I feel I can offer, no words of comfort that come even close to those suffering the most, I hold up my lit candle and let what light can shine from it, reach out as far into the darkness as it can.  May we all light our own candles with love and hold them up right now.  The world needs to be lit from within.