It’s the time of year when a number of traditions celebrate holidays, the most basic of which is the Winter Solstice, the time when the light begins to return to the northern hemisphere and begins to wane in the southern hemisphere.  This time of year always reminds me of the presence and power of change, as well as being a time when people connect more deeply with traditions of celebration and an awareness of the mystery of nature, the gifts that we receive in this cycle of the year.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to become even more attuned to whatever tradition you follow, whatever holidays you may celebrate.  If your holidays include an acknowledgment of the sacred nature of life, notice what happens if you focus even more powerfully on the way the sacred pervades not only your holiday season, but every aspect of your life.  What changes in your experience if you hold the thought that every moment, every event, everything that exists in your life is part of the sacred, however you envision that?  If the holidays hold meaning for you around family and friends, and the opportunities these times bring for connecting and sharing with loved ones, notice what happens if you hold those loved ones in your awareness even more of the time during your day.  If you are a person who doesn’t celebrate any holidays, perhaps you can offer yourself a deepened awareness of the presence of natural cycles and rhythms which pervade every moment of your daily life.  What do you notice when you remember that you are part of Nature and that you cannot be separate from that ever-present connection?

As we move toward the end of the final year of this first decade of a new century, you might also take some time to review the journey you’ve had in these years, paying particular attention to how you’ve deepened, or expanded your awareness, or become more centered – or whatever other positive developments may have emerged over this time.  In the presence of adversity and challenges, it’s useful to reflect on how these kinds of experiences offered opportunities to deepen, to expand your resilience, or to discover new resources in yourself that you didn’t know you had.  Notice how it feels when you take the time to acknowledge the things you have accomplished and to notice, as well, the things you still want to bring into your life and awareness.

In the journey of living consciously, the inevitability of the movement of seasons and the presence of change are constant reminders that we are all works in progress and that each new cycle, new season, new day offers opportunities to make new choices and discover things about ourselves that we didn’t know before. 

May you have a beautiful holiday season.