What my mom taught me in 1986

Way back in 1986, my mom woke me up in the middle of the night (a school night!), to see Haley's comet.

We quietly put on coats and hats (it was still March) and drove the windy, woodsy roads up to an open stretch of meadow on the hill, pulled off into the crunch gravel, and got out.

The night sky was still and clear and vast. 

And there was the comet, a little orangey-yellow streak in the rich, wet blue of a night sky with the moon somewhere just out of sight.

It looked better through the binoculars, and I think we were looking south, but what I remember most was silently marveling that my mother - who normally quite predictable and reliably did things the "right" way - had decided this was top priority.  That that was the right thing to do.

That night, many folks from many places were outside in the dark, looking up, quietly amazed by this special, once (or twice) in a lifetime comet.

Connected with a common moment of reverence for a bright light beyond our grasp.

I felt more connected to my mom.

So there we were.

And here we are. 

It's the Winter Solstice.  Longest night after a wild year.  

This is a turning point.

It happens every year.  

We all feel it whether we pay attention or not.

We are natural beings, living by natural cycles and rhythms, and the closer we align to them the better we feel and function.

What we eat, how we sleep, the time we spend outside in the light and dark - it all can support our children's resilience, health and happiness.  

I love that we see the same stars, and many of us can see them at once.

I love that we are connected by our biology, our planet, and the heavens - that we do have so much in common.

Tonight, Jupiter and Saturn overlap will overlap into a spectacularly bright light, the great conjunction.  

Crazy things are happening in our world, families and the heavens.

I'll be out just after sunset with my son, hoping for a break in the Seattle clouds, while my mother stands on her little hill in New Hampshire, looking up at the very same planets with us.

Do you have someone to share the Solstice and Great Conjunction with? 

Will you step out into the wild night, in your city or town, and look up at our shared heavens?

Will you reconnect your family with nature at this special moment in centuries and in the turning of the year?

It's been a busy year and I'm eager to share what I've been working on for you.

And today... 

I'm wishing you peace and joy and connection and LOVE!