I’ve been working on sidling up to this time of year. I tend to feel the energetic contrast between the strong pull inward, and the additional hustle and bustle that gets added to my plate. This can cause me to feel I’m in a tug of war. On one side: The pull to go inward is soooo strong. And, the other: I’m getting ready for houseguests (my stepdaughters), planning Christmas dinner, presents, accepting (but really mostly declining) invitations…

From a neutral perspective, I like aspects of the time of year. But because I’m an introverted energy sensitive empath, and perhaps because there is so much more white noise swirling around me/us than I’d like (I do remember being a child and loving Christmas)… I feel an extra load of discord right about now.

In the spirit of making peace with what I am feeling, I “heard” (from my Guidance) that this time of year is similar to a woman’s menstruation. LOL. This made me laugh our loud, especially since I am officially in menopause! But what I received from this is that a woman’s cycle is a sacred, inward, time. It is a time of releasing seeds that did not come to fruition, feeling our feelings, taking much more rest, and tending to the soft animal of our body.

…Ahh, it’s Womb Time. This exact phrase had shown up in my journals earlier this month, and now it reappears as we release, slough off old dead stuff from 2023. During our own personal womb time, perhaps we used to bemoan our fates as women…bodily pains, a need for drawing back and in, lack of validation from the world for this biological process…but only a few years before my cycle stopped, I finally embraced this time as special. When I did, I recall it being a magical time of connecting to my own female earthiness.

This reminded me of a picture (above, a Norwegian design, meant for campfire storytelling), and then of an alternate reality which I will share with you.

Somewhere in my memory, or imagination (I’m unsure which), I have a vision of what this time of year would look like in a culture that truly understood and honored seasonal cycles. In this world, with built-in understanding of what earthlings most need to optimally thrive, we would be doing certain things right now.

Sleep. Imagine a lush forest full of dreaming temples, hibernation huts, or sleep chambers. Sleep – it’s quality, quantity and magical healing and nurturing powers- is the primary focus of this time of year. Our lives revolve around getting a good sleep. Celestial rituals are observed. We retire to our sleep chamber at dusk, awaken at dawn; we cycle with the Sun/Moon. Bedtime teas, warm fireplaces, starlight… lull us to sleep.

Healing. Daytime is about gentle exercise and relaxation, and attending to any pressing need we have for whatever we are working through in our healing. Healers are on hand for this. Because everyone has something to release, heal, integrate there are plenty of resources for this. This is because *this world values and honors just how important it is to do integration work- not only for our self, but for the collective.

Reflecting. Imagine having all the time in the world to reflect. At this time of year, my husband likes to “take out his scrapbook of memories”. He does not have an actual scrapbook, he makes time to stare at the Christmas ornaments, sink in, get quiet, and remember. In my world, imagination is not replaced by Tiktok videos. In my world, the imagination has time to drift because we value the importance of doing nothing.

Nourishment. We gather food. We make food. We share food. So many people do this quickly, or have others do it for them, preferring to spend time on other things. Not in this world. The physical is sustained by being wholly in all facets of eating: growing, gathering, cooking, coming together nourishes body + soul.

Reading. Ahhhh. Great books will be read, and listened to. Around the campfire, stories will be told. Don’t you love a good story that takes you places? A story that introduces you to aspects of your own experience?

Even though its peopled by all, Grandmothers also figure strongly in this world. Are you surprised? So many grandmothers – storytelling, cooking, helping us to heal. This is the world I love to imagine living in, right now. And in all honesty, it is truly a place I have created for myself; I do live this way most of the time. My life has been designed for plenty of time for the imagination, care, reflection, because this feeds my creative Spirit.

If you find yourself needing a break right now, I suggest taking it. Do what nourishes you; what lights you up. Rest is not optional, but a requirement – and if you would like a marvelous reframe on rest, I heartily suggest the book Rest Is Resistance, a fabulous book to support your desire to step away from grind culture.

Rest, heal, do what you love. This is what will fortify your body, mind, Spirit for the coming year.