Finding myself in the last week of November, I’m awakening to the reality that there truly is a passage from Autumn to Winter. As I look out the window, I experience a dark damp November in my environment and in my soul. It’s not only that I’m packing books to give away and clearing closets to move on, it’s the awareness that death in one season  brings new life to another. It’s the awareness that to let come something new, we must always let go of what has become old. Nature’s wisdom invites a sweet surrender.

I remember other times in my life where the transitions from one experience to another were met with anxiety and fear because I’d not prepared the inner ground for new growth. I’d played like it was Winter when it was actually Spring or imagined it to be Spring when it was Autumn. These are the seasons we live without soul, without the inner knowing of what’s happening in our thoughts, feelings, physical relations and deepest spiritual needs. These are the times when passage is difficult and dangerous.

It seems the quicker we move, the more quickly time passes. When we ‘wake up’ to this phenomenon, it becomes important for us to SLOW down and move more fully into the inner sanctuary of soul and Self. Here we are able to bring more meaning to the moment, more creativity to our lives, more grace to embrace the wealth of now. Here we can smile from within, lighten up with new perceptions, observe from a place of non attachment and wonder with the people, places, situations and things that are present.

This movement from Autumn into the three months of Winter requires us to become aware of what we’re being invited to let go of to let come. Decades ago I had to let go of a marriage in Autumn to let come a new birthing within me. The solitude of Winter was the necessary gestation place I needed to birth a new life. Once I awakened to and accepted this reality, the pregnancy was realized. Finally, when Spring opened itself, a new birth came within that could only have been created through the wonder of Winter.

So my dear soul friends, as we say good-bye to Autumn, let us with new awareness say hello to Winter. Let us find within our depths the curiosity and courage to walk softly into the cold nights, to come gently bringing our own lights. Let us dance brightly with a gleam in our eyes that we might all ways bring radiance to the dark cold skies. The days are growing shorter which allow us to go deeper into the darkness and find the true treasure that lies within. It’s a farewell of fullness and a greeting of meaningful plenty!

• As you find yourself complaining about the shorter days and anything else through the Winter months, remember to remember to SLOW way down and spend more time within your inner sanctuary. Reflect on the wonder that takes you beyond the forms into the very substance of the forms and discover the serenity that awaits you. . . .
• Come closer to the awareness that holidays are holy days for you to reconnect and realign with the Who that is ultimately You. Take time to see through the material forms into their Essence, including your own Self. . . .
• Over this next month of December give less ‘stuff’ and more of your Self. Let go the shoulds, musts and oughts to let come the serene joy of authentic Presence. . . .
• When you find yourself getting frazzled, frustrated and out of alignment. . . . . . . . .
  Smile – Lighten up – Observe – Wonder….SLOW down and realign. Tis the season!