.happy solstice.

Happy Solstice! A moment to celebrate the returning light and the beginning of the winter season. A moment to remember to slow down and embrace the season to turn inwards. I'm a summer person - I love the heat and the energy but this year I feel like I'm opening more and more to the gifts and beauty of winter. I have a favorite woodland near my house that I walk a few times a week and have found some beautiful young pine trees on these walks. Today I collected some to make pine needle vinegar. It's super simple, similar to balsamic vinegar and super high in vitamin C.

||Pine Needle Vinegar ||

Just collect white pine needles - enough to fill jar size of your choice. Then wash the needles and remove brown parts. Pour organic vinegar (I use ACV) over the needle to fill up the jar and cover with a plastic lid or I covered with wax paper and metal lid. Let set for 6 weeks and then enjoy! You can find more pine needle ideas here.

Winter's Cloak 

By Joyce Rupp

This year I do not want
the dark to leave me.
I need its wrap
of silent stillness,
its cloak
of long lasting embrace.
Too much light
has pulled me away
from the chamber
of gestation.
come late,
let the sunsets
arrive early,
let the evenings
extend themselves
while I lean into
the abyss of my being.
of my soul,
for too much light
blinds me,
steals the source
of revelation.
Let me seek solace
in the empty places
of winter's passage,
those vast dark nights
that never fail to shelter me.
Let the dawns
Let me lie in the cave

.winter solstice.

Happy happy winter S O L S T I C E! It's such a special time of year to welcome the light back to us - to plant seeds of intentions for the year to come - to sit in the darkness and unpack what the long summer days never allow us time to face.

Last solstice I spent the longest night of the year dancing in a kitchen with new and old friends until almost dawn - it was magical. I set intentions to build a community for myself in a new space - to be brave - to be authentic to myself - to acknowledge my wounds and to begin to heal. It's been a beautiful year. I'm so grateful for this liberating year of rebirth. 

This year I am trying to catch up with myself. My first full time holiday season creating and selling my jewelry has been exhilarating and exhausting - fulfilling and insightful - liberating and challenging. This solstice I am making myself take the time I need to check in and plant those seeds of intentions. I am in a different place this year - I need different things this year. 

I loved these words about solstice, “This is the time of year when we are inspired by the power of Life, the possibilities we hope for as we stand in the dark. Let the dark sink into silence so you can hear and see the Light that is being born.” via MysticMamma I keep holding on to those words, to let the dark sink into silence. There is so much I hold inside of myself if I allow myself sink into the silence - to listen. 

These are some wonderful questions to ask ourselves when we sink into silence from one of my favorite Astrologers, Chani Nicholas,

"How do I want to feel about my work, relationships, body, spiritual life/relationship with myself? What old paradigm do I want to outgrow? What life affirming feeling do I want to grow into? What bonds am I ready to free myself from? What guilt, shame and self-doubt can I lay down? What actions can I take to help my self esteem and quell my self-doubt? What self-care practices can I give to myself considering the nature of my work? How can I give that which I want to cultivate? What do I need to become more sensitive to? What might I need to have a thicker skin about? How can I grow myself up so that I am moving away from thinking that the world owes me something and towards getting curious about what I can give to it?"

Love to you and yours on this sweet winter solstice.