Greeting and welcome to the first in our Winter Dreaming series of contemplations.
Thank you for joining me in this beautiful time leading to the Solstice. I do hope my offering this week brings you deeper into the beauty of your life. I have so enjoyed creating the video for you this week. I am honing my ‘techie’ skills and am loving the stretch that this involves.
This week I invite you to relax by the water’s edge to look back over the year that is coming to completion. Please click here or on the photo below to access the video.
At the end of this Newsletter, there are notes to guide you if you have the time to go deeper with your remembering.
Enjoy:)
Listening for the Melodies of our lives
The poem for this week is a gift to us from Sunny Optimist community member Richard Candy.
His gentle and evocative writing touches on the duality of dark and light. He touches into the dance between despair and optimism, knowing that both are part of our life experiences. He encourages us to honour the cycles of life by taking the time to stop and listen to the ‘melodies’ of our lives. This poem is a lovely entry into this week’s activity as we listen for the ‘melodies’ of our lives.
Mmmmmmm. A deep bow of gratitude to Richard.
————
The First Star By Richard Candy
It’s hard to see a deeper place
Than one had ever dreamed
That life could actually be darker
Even than it had seemed
———
And yet beyond the darkest place
Where life is silent and still
There was a shimmering twinkling sunrise
Through every windowsill
———
The morning shall be there again
With the dawn chorus that is heard
It lifts the universe with every heart
Through every thoughtful caring word
———
For there is a place beyond the dark
Beyond the depths of all despair
I had never known a deeper place
Than the sunlight shining there
———
I had never stopped to take the time
To hear melodies when I dreamed
Of all the loveliest things in life
When the early light just gleamed
——-
Guidance Notes
You can extend your remembering by referring to your 2020 diary. Phone messages can be helpful, as can photos and your journal if you have one.
I suggest you take a broad-brush view of the year and make notes of what happened. Look at the events, situations, and experiences that felt most important to you. Try not to get lost in emotion and hold the lens that it is all perfect just as it happened.
Once you feel complete with capturing memories, you can then move to create a visual image of the year. Taking time to draw uses the other side of your brain. It can bring fresh insights and new dimensions to your remembering.
Using your colored pens/pencils and paper, etc., craft an image of your year using a metaphor that works for you. I have seen people draw a river, or a tree, or a spiral. Whatever works for you:). Don’t worry about perfection; just create an image that has meaning for you.
Once this is complete, you can just sit and be with your creation for a while. Know that this process contributes to your wellbeing. It is a way to build your resilience and open a new doorway for your next round of dreams to come into manifestation.
Wishing you a powerful time of remembrance, and as always, I would love to hear from you.
Ann
Thank you AGAIN, Ann (and Richard) for this invitation! Richard's first stanza especially resonates with me: It's indeed hard to see into places you've never dreamed before. But I am finally setting off to do a bit of just that. The holidays have had me whirling, and I'm looking forward to a couple hours this afternoon to fall into the dream. Love to you!
So lovely, Ann. I've spent the last several days in deep contemplation and your words were helpful and comforting as always. The poem, so powerful. Yes, all around.