Celebration

As this year draws to a close and we start preparing ourselves for the festivities of the holiday season, celebration means different things to different people.

All too often the typical scenario is one of frantically finalizing deadlines at work, mental and physical exhaustion due to the stresses of the year, a mad rush of Christmas shopping in crowded shopping centers, a frenzied mass exodus to a holiday destination and the final meltdown of having to entertain friends and family in a show of festivity and present giving.

If the above sounds all too familiar then this season is an opportunity for you to create some ‘space’ around the relevance of true celebration.

Reflecting on what it is we truly would like to celebrate can be very revealing:
The origin of many celebrations is about raising people’s awareness of a particular event or natural cycle.  Most ancient cultures used to honor the abundance of the Earth Mother at the end of the harvest season with ritual celebrations and rites as the last of the sacred crops were harvested.  The spring season of plowing and sowing was honored in a similar way with the community uniting in the miracle of the fertile Mother and new beginnings.

We live in an age of technology where these greater cycles have all but been forgotten and we need to once again connect to these greater rhythms of life and death for we are as much a part of them as is the sacred corn growing in the fields.

Set aside time to discover which aspects of life you would like to uphold, honor and thus celebrate.  An example is the powerful ritual of awaking early to celebrate the rising sun – slowing down enough to feel the great pulse of life gives us new impetus and perspective.  It reminds us that we are indeed part of this awesome creation – not alone and separate.

This is also a good time to consider family members, partners or friends who have perhaps been taken for granted and whom we would like to connect with on a deeper level.  Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the flame that fuels lasting love.

A New Year celebration ritual where each member of the family shares their personal joys and sorrows of the departing year is a deeply fulfilling and healing exercise.  This is a true celebration of the uniqueness of each person.

On a personal level, we can celebrate the beauty and awesome potential of our bodies, minds and spirits.  Many years ago Martha Washington wrote, “think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests.  It’s a miracle, and the dance … is a celebration of that miracle”.

You can celebrate the pursuit of good health in many ways and we will be exploring some of these in future articles during the New Year.

The miracle of life is unfolding all around us in a never ending cycle of little celebrations.  May you enter into this season of good will with your eyes opened to the beauty that surrounds you.

Wishing you a Blessed Solstice season.