December (round about solstice-time) 2004 — day 8 on Yucatan pennisula ride, Tulum, Mexico
Funday Monday blog prompt #13 for the Daily Creative Practice Facebook Group is about the solstice and noting change.
One thing I notice about solstice and change within and around me is that I observe and celebrate the solstice. This is something that has come about since coming to live in Britain in December 2005. Before that I lived for 6 years in (sunny) Mexico.
Winter in London
Winter’s darkness is an invitation to go inside and find the light …
I struggled on many fronts when we arrived here. One was the weather. Winter in London. Vegetables wrapped in plastic. The damp, the cold, the unreliable public transport. Life’s basics. And on another front finding rewarding paid work. For the first time in my life I followed someone else somewhere rather than my own whim. No complaints, I came willingly. I’d been in Mexico a while, it was time for something new. But in the past I’d always made those decisions in pursuit of my own day-dreams. It took a while to get the ground under my feet.
2013. I noticed at the December solstice, for the first time, I didn’t dread the darkness, the shortness of daylight hours and the cold, well, I’ve learned to cope. I still don’t like the rain.
It had been a busy year, and at the end of year holiday time, I shut down the work part of my brain and life, did art, meditated twice a day, slept lots and ate and drank moderately and said ‘no, thanks’ to invitations. In the spirit of ‘stay-cations‘ it was a ‘retreat-stay-cation’.
June – reconnect with nature
Grass therapy! If you haven’t tried it since you were a kid (or ever) I invite you to do so, it’s amazing! Take care not to setp on a bumble bee though …
The June solstice has become a time to re-connect with nature and the coming Summer season. Walking the dog, I like to take my shoes off when we are in grassy parts of our walk.
Solstice highlights
I also notice through my body of art work (and life) that i’ve captured the solstices in image-making over the years. Here are a few …
2013 June solstice, Vigo, Galicia (Spain)
Thanks to some local friends with a narrow boat, I’ve have slept and woke on the the canals in England’s West Country, Wiltshire mostly.
Coot on the canal with yellow flowers Inspired by 2011 long weekend June solstice trip
December 2010 solstice, standing stones in darkness ( … and as one friend commented: ‘with green alien-beings above’, who for me are one of my trademark ‘green heart characters’ whoever s/he may be … )
December 2013 — feeling the sunshine from within
And then my December 2013 image, feeling and bringing the light within, yee-haw!
June 2014 solstice
This year, nothing too exotic to celebrate the solstice, but I noted it being here … as did others. I found this labyrinth on my dog walk today.
And an invitation …
act, believe, change 