Seasons of the Soul

Reflecting on the Year Gone By

As we end this year, it is a great idea to reflect on what we learned and how we've grown as well as what we've accomplished. This gives us information that we can roll over into the new year, and as 2012 emerges, we can determine just what we'd like to accomplish and how, planning ways to make the most of our time.

As a special gift to help in that unfolding process, I am happy to offer a free yearly projection to my readers based on the month and day of your birth. If you send me that information I'll send you a printable forecast for 2012 that applies to you specifically based on your birthday.

Ringing out the old, we get ready to bring in the New.

Happy New Year!

Something to Cheer About

 

A wonderful reminder!

http://www.healyourlife.com/author-robert-holden-phd/2011/12/wisdom/inspiration/something-to-cheer-about?utm_id=INSNew

Parting the Veils

 

Breaking waves crash

on the shore

Tension brimming

Veils are thinning

Tides are changing

But what for?

 

Walking through the

labyrinth maze

Anguished people in a haze

Looking for a daily fix

Where none is to be had

 

Alteration, altercation, liberation

Tiny granules forming sand

Tension brimming

Veils are thinning

Eternal law - supply/demand

 

Some will reap

and some will sow

Amidst the chaos

flowers grow

 

The soul does bloom

in light of day

But through the dark

the angels play

and people pray

and life gives way

 

Tension brimming

Veils are thinning

For Heaven is at hand

KJ

Why We Give

If you haven't read Charity Focus, it is a wonderful reminder that there is a great deal of good going on at this time regardless of the bombardment of horror we get from the news. The service they offer is a free daily e-mail with news that inspires, and there are many adjuncts to their newsletter, including the Daily Good site where stories are posted. Today's entry is worth our attention and consideration.

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=148

Voluntary Hibernation

Living in California, I am not subject to the extremes in weather as many of you living east or north experience, but recently we've had a solid time period of grey and rain. I watched the scene from my window and noted that everything was similar, save for the line value, as there was no light to play contrast or shadow. When you live with sunshine for the major portion of time, this grey period is interesting because there is a lull and hush that bathes the earth, and everything is drowsy. In grey there is suspension of activity. The stillness favors quiet, introspection, and time for cocooning. It makes me think of bears.

Bears have the sense to know when to go out into the world, and when to go into their caves to hibernate. They live rhythmically with seasons. We continue to go forward into the world regardless of what our environment and our bodies tell us. And so, we end up with stress related illnesses and injuries born of pushing too hard. In the plant kingdom, disease affects the weak plants. Healthy plants have an immunity to pests and fungus.

In humans where our rate of illness is on the increase, we can see the correlation between the level of stress and its effect on the immune system. We don't know how to stop...to take time to turn off. Our society is geared for a constant frenetic pace, and we buy into it by necessity.

I would like to suggest that it might perhaps be worthwhile to take a weekend for no thing. To color the outside world grey, and to suspend animation for two full days. That would allow us to go into a hypothetical cave where we would be quiet. No phones. No computer. No paperwork or housework. No getting together with others. No project lists. No ironing. Not even preparing food. This would be a two day period of inner reflection. It would require preparation, even farming out the kids to relatives or friends for two full days, but the benefits can be invaluable.

Perhaps the first day could be spent in silence and/or sleep. Walking in the stillness of nature if appropriate, choosing to eat very simply and consciously. Maybe it would be a day of full rest. On the second day, perhaps reflection could be translated into something that captures feelings through journaling, or painting, or playing a musical instrument spontaneously...to compose a "piece" for one's life without judgment or goal. To just allow the inner to "be," and to reflect that if appropriate without effort or strain.

On the evening of the second day we might find that this "break" from the world, this voluntary hibernation, has restored in us a point of light and renewal through moving with the season. And in the grey we may find all the colors with which to once again emerge as appropriate.

Isn't that the gift of winter? The stillness. The seeming lull and quiet. The earth laid bare without color...only line? And in snow country, no growth. No flowers. Because it isn't time. Flowering comes in Spring. And winter's gift is to rest the soil. There is time enough for planting and growing. But for now, for winter, it is  time for stopping and reflecting.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 1998

Soul In Winter

First of all, we look at the meaning of Soul. In Webster’s Dictionary, Soul is referred to as   “the principle of life, feeling, thought and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical.”

 

The soul, tied closely to the essence of life, which is housed in nature, responds to seasons as does the rest of life. Winter, then, becomes a time of reflection and immersion in Self…the inward part of one’s being rather than the outer, extroverted Self who emerges in spring to bring forth the bloom of its content. 

 

Winter provides an opportunity for internal reflection and assessment. As we look at the external landscape, we view what appears to be non-activity. Leaves have fallen. Trees are bare. Visible growth is minimal. In cold climates, the earth is covered by snow, and the weather is often formidable, bidding us to go within rather than venturing forth.

 

For those who live with the evidence of four seasons, the focus is more specific than for those of us living in climates that have little variation. It is often harder in these areas to look for outer guidelines to direct our seasonal focus, but it is equally important that we take the time offered as it is intended so that we not delude ourselves into thinking that the internal life moves without cycles.

 

The metaphor of winter is partially distillation and reconciliation. What have we gathered from the results of our journey through spring, summer and fall? What can we complete, and what is appropriate to leave behind? In this time reflection is a very powerful tool. It not only enables us to put things into perspective, but to prepare the soil for our renewal in spring.

 

When we are intent on outer activity in the winter months we often fall prey to colds or flu. This isn’t surprising given the intention of winter. When we disregard signals that life proposes, we are vulnerable to dis-ease brought on by activity that goes against our basic nature. Soul does not care that we have jobs to attend and needs to be met in order to make a living. Its focus and purpose is to bring about the necessary adjustment for inward poise and balance. Soul craves recognition of its needs in a time when many of us have forgotten who we really are and what this journey is truly about.

 

Part of our discontent lies in the stark reality that we have lost connection to the myths of life that propose a journey of meaning. It is the great task at the end of this 20^th Century to once again find our place in the stream of greater consciousness, to attune to meaning and pay attention to the rhythm of the seasons, of which we are integral parts. We are not here to overcome nature, but to embrace her and work with her, making of our life an art.  KJ

 

 

“The great malady of the twentieth century, affecting us individually and socially, is “loss of soul.”  When soul is neglected, it doesn’t just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning.”

~ Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul

 

 

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 1996

13 Year Old Secret Santa

I Love Charity Focus because it ALWAYS provides inspiring stories. Today's installment is a vivid reminder of how one person can make a major difference...and this one is only 13 years old.

"A child shall lead the way...."

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=145

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Who knew that Bobby McFerrin's song has neurological benefits!!

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=105

Holiday Almond Cake

On a sweet note, I’d like to share a wonderful recipe that has been a favorite around my home for many years.

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup almond paste

1 tsp. almond extract

2 cups sifted flour

1/4 cup sliced almonds

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Separate the egg. Set the white aside.

Beat yolk into butter mixture. Beat in almond paste and almond extract until smooth.

At low speed beat in flour just until well combined.

Press into ungreased 8X8X2” pan.

Beat egg white until frothy. Brush over the top of dough. Cover with sliced almonds.

Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cut into 1 1/2” squares and enjoy!

Winter and Reflection

We tend to see winter as reflective of death, and often something or someone does go out of our life at this powerful time of year. The underworld retrieves that which it gave in spring, the great cycle of return now underway. As the landscape stands stark and colorless, contrast is evident, and we must pick up the palate of our inner world. Rather than deny the dark and cold of the external world, we need to move into the warmth of soul for the illumination we seek.

As projects or loved ones recede, we are given an opportunity to recount ourselves. If we’ve been on a blazing marathon, this transition may be difficult at first, because we have to stop. Winter does that to us. When we don’t pay attention to the subtle clues, the body is under attack.

Winter puts us on notice that everything is exposed. The trees and landscape are pared back, only the sturdy wood remaining through the onslaught of the elements. So we, too, may have harsh weather, and we must bear through it.

When it is lovely outside, we have no reason to sit at home and ponder the state of our union, and I have noted in the process of unfoldment that it is important to avoid avoidance. If we insist on ignoring the external signals, winter will bring stillness to our attention. We live in a society that doesn’t make time for siestas, so we must carve the quiet time…the reflective time, out of our schedule as an act of discipline. And when the pain or hurt or isolation creeps in, we must find the gift in it, for at the root, winter leads to spring. And it is the quality of our insights bound in winter that will dictate the seeds we plant as the new season unfolds.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 1998