Advent 2024 : 22

 

Here in the northern hemisphere, yesterday was the shortest day, last night the longest night. The start of astronomical winter. A third of the way through meteorological winter. The mid-winter point of solar winter. However you choose to define or measure it, we are in winter now. And in acknowledgement, it has turned cold. There is a chill in the air.

These are days to

see with the rods of your eyes and let the cones rest (visual sensation)

savour the exquisite pain of dark chocolate melting on your tongue and teeth (gustatory sensation)

let your ears inhale and exhale the roar of the wind (auditory sensation)

feel the air particles scour your cheeks (tactile sensation)

be led by your nose through a mind palace made of oranges and cloves (olfactory sensation)

and to

hold your loved ones close (proprioception)

be drawn into the deep subconscious rhythms of hibernation (interoception)

reach out into the dark and grasp that you are one with all creation (vestibular sensation)

These are days to come home to your body and dwell a while.