Hi, everyone! It’s time for the yearly winter solstice post! *This post was originally published on 12/21/2013 but is being reposted below with a few updates*

No matter what our spiritual beliefs, or what part of the world we live in, we all share the turning of the sun on the solstices. Today is Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, or as it’s more commonly known, the first day of winter.

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night, the beginning of winter when the earth is tilted the furthest from the sun. But it also marks the return of the sun. After this night, the days will begin to get longer and we’ll have the opportunity for a new beginning. The Winter Solstice has been celebrated since ancient times by various groups of people, and many of these celebrations have become linked to a variety of religious practices. Many of the Christian traditions around Christmas, for example, have been adapted from those traditional practiced by these people groups.

The Winter Solstice is a natural time for letting go and saying farewell. It’s the perfect time to release your resentments and regrets into the darkness, knowing they will be transformed with the return of the light. Renew your visions for the new year and remember that it is important not to judge yourself by “success” or “failure” in this past year but by the true quality of how you lived your life and whether you were a good influence on your world.

Hi, everyone! It’s time for the yearly winter solstice post! *This post was originally published on 12/21/2013 but is being reposted below with a few updates*

No matter what our spiritual beliefs, or in what part of the world we live, we all share the turning of the sun on the solstices. Today is the 2018 Winter Solstice, or as it’s more commonly known, the first day of winter.

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night, the beginning of winter and the return of the sun. After this night, the days will begin to get longer and we’ll have the opportunity for a new beginning.

This is a natural time for letting go and saying farewell. Release your resentments and regrets into the darkness, knowing they will be transformed with the return of the light. Renew your visions for the new year and remember that it is important not to judge yourself by “success” or “failure” in this past year but by the true quality of how you lived your life and whether you were a good influence on your world.

In the coming year, try to create enriching experiences for yourself and continue to look forward. See this as an opportunity to shape your life more positively, with awareness and intention. Dedicate all of your happy, joyful experiences to every living being that is able to share that good energy, and dedicate all of your painful, difficult experiences to uplifting yourself and others.

Death and rebirth, the passing of the old, and the slow emergence of the new. Helping one another through the dark. Sharing with the less fortunate. Being thankful for our past blessings and for prosperity in the future. The natural cycles of our world. All of this is the spirit of the solstice, the season I celebrate.

photo source

Celebration Ideas

This year for the winter solstice, I plan on lighting some candles and reflecting on all of the things I’m grateful for from the past year and letting go of all the resentments I might hold. For anyone that has lived through 2018, you can probably agree that this could be a really helpful step for preventing so much negativity in the coming year. I want 2019 to be better, not just for me, but for the world. This is what I will reflect on tonight with my candles. If you’re interested in doing the same, it’s really easy. Here’s what I’m going to do:

• Write down my resentments and regrets from this past year on a post-it note
• Write down my visions/resolutions for the new year on another post-it note
• Quietly reflect on the negative note, and then let all of those feelings go. Burn the note with a candle.
• As I burn the note, I’ll begin to focus on the positive for a new year and make a promise to myself that I will try to create enriching experiences and do all that I can to positively shape my life in the coming year.

Celebrating the solstice/winter is very easy, even if you’ve never done it before or are just starting out in this journey. Here are a few other ideas:

• Greet the sun at dawn on solstice morning by ringing bells.
• Create rituals, having feasts (pot-luck), and a gift exchange
• Create your own family tradition by gathering in a circle around candles. Each person can light a candle and talk about something they’re grateful for or something they wish for another person in the coming year.
• Gather around a bond fire and have each person state what they would like to give up about the past and what they envision for the future.
• Light candles: a different candle for each of the twelve months on the 12 days before the solstice. Light the center candle on solstice day (represents the return of the light)
• Contribute to wellness on the planet: donate food or clothing, meditate for world peace, make a pledge to do some form of good in the coming year.

Creating a meaningful celebration of winter solstice can help us cultivate a deeper connection to nature and family and all the things that matter most to us.

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

This post was originally published on November 1, 2016 and has been slightly updated.

Feliz Día de los Muertos!

Today is Day of the Dead, a two-day holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and by people of Mexican ancestry, and it focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for, remember, and help support dead loved ones on their spiritual journey. On this day, people go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars with the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of their departed loved ones. These celebrations are meant to be happy and reverent instead of spooky or sad because they are, essentially, a celebration of life!

Sugar skulls  Photo source

Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.

We were invited to my friend’s wedding in Wilmington, NC over Labor Day Weekend this year and decided to turn it into an end-of-summer family vacation. We brought Nick’s mom, brother and sister-in-law with us. We played in the ocean, had a date night, went to the aquarium, and attended the wedding, and a great time was had by all!

It’s too dang hot out here.

We spent Saturday morning at the beach. It was Sebastian’s first time, but he loves sand and water so we figured he would have a blast. At first, he was not having it. You can see in the photo above that he thought it was just too damn hot outside. He’s very much like his father that way. He wasn’t sure what to think about the ocean or the waves, and he was a little afraid at first, especially when the tide would roll out and his feet would sink into the sand. He was not a fan of that at all. However, he liked the water when it wasn’t knocking him over, and of course he loved the sand. The beach is one giant sandbox, after all. Toward the end of the morning, he was feeling much more brave and started running toward the waves!

I know I’m a little late with this post but better late than never. Before the baby came along, we spent the Fourth of July watching baseball, eating hot dogs, and watching fireworks.  It’s what we’ve done ever since we moved to Durham, and I love it. Baseball is my favorite, hot dogs are delicious, and fireworks are fun! It’s a win-win.

Durham Bulls