Today is the Winter Solstice. We experienced the least amount of daylight for the whole year today. The Northern Hemisphere is at its farthest point from the sun. From here on out, the daylight lingers, taking up more of the day, all the way up to the Vernal Equinox, when sunlight and night are equal, to the Summer Solstice, where it begins to fade again. It’s the also the first day of winter, when things appear dead or at least hibernating, storing energy to burst forth in spring. Notable days like these make me think of cycles, seasons, and changes.

As the leaves fell and the rain came down this autumn, I was thinking of ways to shed unnecessary things in my life. Like the church season of Advent, I am preparing for the arrival of some changes. I make room in my life, trusting that the universe will fill it with what I am manifesting. As I let go of things that had a hold on me, I find a new lightness, a new energy, a new creativity. My email box is clean, my office is tidied up, a fresh new desk calendar awaits a year full of joyful events. I’m purging things from my home, reexamining my commitments, seeking experiences rather than objects.

Seasons change, solstices and equinoxes come and go, tides rise and ebb. The cycles of our lives are marked in more ways than sunlight or water. A new calendar year is coming. How are we changing? What are we becoming? What are we creating room for?