this is one of the most gorgeous pieces of writing I have read in a long time. it is medicinal and wise and necessary. and I thank you katherine for always sharing your heart and wisdom so graciously.
I love both Solstices - for very different reasons. For a long time I felt more alive during the summer one but with every year, I love winter solstice even more. we eat lovely food ( this year is mushroom gratin with salad and then poached pears), drink wines and sit in the dark for a while before lighting candles and thinking about the year and the light ahead. Its a really special time for me.
Your profound words need to be read again and again, thank you. Much gratitude for allowing me to be a part of this marvelous community. I will share here what I've also been reading:
"As Buddhists, we know our days are numbered, like these shortest days in the Northern Hemisphere leading toward the winter solstice on 21 December, so we cultivate the inner light of lucid knowing. We pray ourselves and others may sense too—even the beetle on the window frame, the squirrel in the garden, the neighbor’s cat hovering about the porch, as she braces her back against a cold wind, yet faced fully toward morning and its sun-filled possibilities. Solstice comes from the Latin meaning, sun stands still. Let us take a moment to pause, embrace the stillness, and in that space make a prayer for all sentient beings:"
May all beings be free.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings know the source of happiness and freedom.
Living farther north now in a place where it starts to feel like evening at 3:00pm this time of year, I really feel this. Seeing exactly where the sun rises every day helps too -- it rises behind trees that mostly block our view to the far south and it barely rises above them all day! I've also really come to appreciate the time between Christmas and the New Year as a still festive, but in -between time, when we're free from the pressures of gift giving and large feast preparations. I first observed this during the "great recession" when everyone in our company was furloughed for the holidays and the office shut down entirely. While it was financially painful, it gave us more time to spend with family outside of the frenzy of Christmas. I have fond memories of going wine tasting at a farm in the Virginia countryside with my in laws. Everything was still sparkly, but everyone was relaxed. We still try to keep this time of year for quiet family days now. Now with a kid, we tend to do more board games in front of the fire than wine tasting, which suits me fine. Wishing everyone the same quietly joyful, liminal time.
Dec 19, 2023·edited Dec 19, 2023Liked by Katherine May
Beautiful. Grown up a pastors kid I have never gotten the idea of Christmas celebrations. A church full of people who usually don’t care, a truck load of stress and gift giving. Only when I rediscovered the silence of the night, when I stayed away from the festivities and the crowds to look inward Christmas enfolded it’s mystery anew.
And so I journey through The 12 Days, recycling the Christmas tree our neighbors have already disposed of and offering my humble daily contemplations for all who seek 😇
I love this piece, Katherine. Your practice of celebrating the time between Solstice and New Years is a wonderful way to experience this time.
I cook a Christmas dinner now. We were traveling for many years over winter break as academics without family obligations, so have a simple dinner at home.
It is the time of year -- the pause--that is so easily lost amidst all the other stuff about "the day". Beautifully written as ever. And just what I needed to add a last link to my own midwinter musings. So thank you for that too! Be well.
I love this, thank you, Katherine. I’ve been marking the solstices for a few years now. The winter solstice feels to me like a personal pause and time of renewal. “We have turned the year,” is a beautiful way to put it.
Munching on toasted homemade bread, mixed and kneaded because standing is possible again, gathering a revised pace to keep a long midwinter, settling into a seated feast of ease with muscles, joints, and wriggling toes. This reflective comment spans 43 months to this moment, reveling in celebration of innumerable people and their gifts, engagement in life's possibilities and heartache, and taking in breaths of crisp air. "Keeping the Long Midwinter" will be welcomed in daily depth and long sighs of relief.
Have you any thoughts on how to celebrate xmas near the longest day of the year? After living in London for nearly 20 years I feel I am reinventing something that doesn't need reinventing, but does need reimagining. Thanks!
Also, is the Diana Henry available as a recording? I have one of her books sentinel on my kitchen table, along with Samin Nosrat's...
this is one of the most gorgeous pieces of writing I have read in a long time. it is medicinal and wise and necessary. and I thank you katherine for always sharing your heart and wisdom so graciously.
I love both Solstices - for very different reasons. For a long time I felt more alive during the summer one but with every year, I love winter solstice even more. we eat lovely food ( this year is mushroom gratin with salad and then poached pears), drink wines and sit in the dark for a while before lighting candles and thinking about the year and the light ahead. Its a really special time for me.
Your profound words need to be read again and again, thank you. Much gratitude for allowing me to be a part of this marvelous community. I will share here what I've also been reading:
"As Buddhists, we know our days are numbered, like these shortest days in the Northern Hemisphere leading toward the winter solstice on 21 December, so we cultivate the inner light of lucid knowing. We pray ourselves and others may sense too—even the beetle on the window frame, the squirrel in the garden, the neighbor’s cat hovering about the porch, as she braces her back against a cold wind, yet faced fully toward morning and its sun-filled possibilities. Solstice comes from the Latin meaning, sun stands still. Let us take a moment to pause, embrace the stillness, and in that space make a prayer for all sentient beings:"
May all beings be free.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings know the source of happiness and freedom.
May all beings never be parted from the source of freedom and happiness, now and ultimately." Sarah C. Beasley from https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/sun-stands-still-a-solstice-contemplation/
Living farther north now in a place where it starts to feel like evening at 3:00pm this time of year, I really feel this. Seeing exactly where the sun rises every day helps too -- it rises behind trees that mostly block our view to the far south and it barely rises above them all day! I've also really come to appreciate the time between Christmas and the New Year as a still festive, but in -between time, when we're free from the pressures of gift giving and large feast preparations. I first observed this during the "great recession" when everyone in our company was furloughed for the holidays and the office shut down entirely. While it was financially painful, it gave us more time to spend with family outside of the frenzy of Christmas. I have fond memories of going wine tasting at a farm in the Virginia countryside with my in laws. Everything was still sparkly, but everyone was relaxed. We still try to keep this time of year for quiet family days now. Now with a kid, we tend to do more board games in front of the fire than wine tasting, which suits me fine. Wishing everyone the same quietly joyful, liminal time.
Beautiful. Grown up a pastors kid I have never gotten the idea of Christmas celebrations. A church full of people who usually don’t care, a truck load of stress and gift giving. Only when I rediscovered the silence of the night, when I stayed away from the festivities and the crowds to look inward Christmas enfolded it’s mystery anew.
And so I journey through The 12 Days, recycling the Christmas tree our neighbors have already disposed of and offering my humble daily contemplations for all who seek 😇
I love this piece, Katherine. Your practice of celebrating the time between Solstice and New Years is a wonderful way to experience this time.
I cook a Christmas dinner now. We were traveling for many years over winter break as academics without family obligations, so have a simple dinner at home.
It is the time of year -- the pause--that is so easily lost amidst all the other stuff about "the day". Beautifully written as ever. And just what I needed to add a last link to my own midwinter musings. So thank you for that too! Be well.
This is so incredibly needed! I had tears in my eyes reimagining my holiday season in this way. Thank you!
Just so peaceful and beautiful. Thank you
I love this notion of stretching the feast, thank you for sharing
I love this, thank you, Katherine. I’ve been marking the solstices for a few years now. The winter solstice feels to me like a personal pause and time of renewal. “We have turned the year,” is a beautiful way to put it.
Munching on toasted homemade bread, mixed and kneaded because standing is possible again, gathering a revised pace to keep a long midwinter, settling into a seated feast of ease with muscles, joints, and wriggling toes. This reflective comment spans 43 months to this moment, reveling in celebration of innumerable people and their gifts, engagement in life's possibilities and heartache, and taking in breaths of crisp air. "Keeping the Long Midwinter" will be welcomed in daily depth and long sighs of relief.
Have you any thoughts on how to celebrate xmas near the longest day of the year? After living in London for nearly 20 years I feel I am reinventing something that doesn't need reinventing, but does need reimagining. Thanks!
Also, is the Diana Henry available as a recording? I have one of her books sentinel on my kitchen table, along with Samin Nosrat's...
This is beautiful. I am going to try this this year. My friends and I are doing a solstice celebration tomorrow - a great way to begin.