As we near Winter Solstice it got me thinking…

Okay, let’s be honest, when am I NOT thinking?

The holiday season has always been one of activity and busy-ness. This year, in this strange time, it isn’t. Yet, Solstice still happens.

I feel the weight of the stillness this year, and in some ways I rather like it. It’s giving me permission to observe, to embrace, and to breathe.

Out of the darkness, the light becomes. There is not reflection if not for the darkness. Honoring the darkness allows us to celebrate the light.

Do you create any rituals on Solstice? Have you even had time before to contemplate it? How do you embrace and acknowledge the darkness in order to make room for the light?

There is sadness, grief, depth and the stillness that accompanies that. It’s not bad, it just is. It remains part of a larger cycle. We balance that with light, hope, possibility. One is not without the other.

How does that manifest itself in the artists’ energy?

We are, as creative beings, always balancing shadow and light. One is simply not there without the other.

Visual artists and singers call this chiaroscuro. Light-Dark. Balance. Pattern. Reflection. Depth.

We need them both. There is no light or brightness without the dark or depth.

We work to discover the balance of that light-dark in our sound as. singers. We work to reflect from the shadows in our acting.

That balance is a constant awareness and active realization.

Winter Solstice gives permission to acknowledge both. To honor and to hold space for the darkness in order to celebrate the return of the light.

Perhaps this Solstice you can honor and hold space for your shadow and for your reflection and light - as an artist, as a creative. There is vibration in both.

Allow your voice to reveal itself and see what it needs… Is it time for depth? Is it time for reflection? Is it time for light and movement?

Balance is still motion. Breath is still movement.

Life is still Chiaroscuro. Still Life. Anticipated Life. Hopeful Life.

Depth. Reflection. Vibration. Movement. Awareness. Acceptance.

These are my thoughts in the stillness leading into Solstice.

May you continue to discover and settle into the darkness and the light of you.

With fondness & fierceness,

Susan