Winter came to Portland this week, did it arrive where you are? For us, it is here, that special movement of inward longing and reflecting that I both love and fear; a movement that involves preparing, evaluating, waiting, hoping.
As it is suddenly (seemingly) dark before 5 pm, and the cold settles in on the ground, I find it takes work to allow the movement that is Winter to permeate my being and do its work. It asks me to close my eyes and just be...
This asking can be difficult. We long for color and light, things to whisk us away from darker feelings, thoughts, and dreams. But it is only by appreciating our inner depths that we can truly scale the heights. So Winter offers a time to go soul-spelunking, if you will.
I find that the deeper I go, the more I am rewarded by the light that reveals itself to be within the darkness. This is the diamond in the coal: the fiery heart of our own nature, full of light we cannot even begin to comprehend.
As the light leaves and the leaves fall, we see the nature of reality.
Life comes from seemingly nowhere, bursts forth in beauty, blows in the breeze and turns its face to the sun.
When it is time, it turns golden and releases, falling and dancing free before finding rest, and what will be its next beginning.
Winter is for rest and the nurture of what is to come. Winter invites us towards growth and whispers one of nature's great secrets: face the darkness and be rewarded with light.
