Solstice Reflections

It's that "festive" time of year again. As we approach Christmas, even though I don't celebrate in a typical fashion, I am reminded to think of what I am grateful for.

I am grateful that I am able to choose to not buy gifts or spend any money on a holiday that overemphasizes the accumulation of unnecessary material things ;)

I am grateful that we as a species still have a chance (however small) to repair the centuries of damage we have done to the Earth.

I am grateful for family, mine, yours, and everyone's. Family is our first community. It is our lifeline, our guidebook for life. It is where we come from and where we go back to. It is where we learn to feed ourselves, to work hard, to support our loved ones and to grow together.

I am grateful that I have been lucky enough to be born in North America and that, though I am a woman and would be made to feel a lesser individual in the greater part of the world, where I live I am equal.

I am grateful to be allowed to pursue my dreams.

I am grateful to be pursuing a dream right at this very moment! Not only a vacation but a valuable experience, an opportunity for learning and maybe even a farewell to the American road-trip as we know it.

And so many simple things besides these.

Last Sunday, as we sat amongst strangers and new friends at a community potluck, I remarked to Jay that it was like "church without the god". I do believe that one can be reverent without being religious. There is something bigger than us, a greater power, a knowledge beyond our knowing and we live on it. Earth.

Much love,
Janet