Goodbye 2024...

So how was your year? Did you accomplish your goals? Learn and grow? Enjoy it? There's some sarcasm in there as I have indeed not enjoyed this year. It was full of changes and some downgrades which is always disappointing, and, on the day of the solstice, in the bitter cold with random snowflakes swirling and glinting in the yellow-white sun, I drew the year to a close. I released that which no longer serves, released the negative, the overwhelm, the anxiety...every thing and everyone who had brought on those feelings...

I wrote them, spoke them, burned them, and sent them back to the universe never to return. The ashes still sit in my tiny cauldron and when I'm again grounded and ready, I will sprinkle them in the woods to be whisked away by the bitter winter breeze or recaptured by my earth to be turned back to dust.

I have yet to really sit with 2024. With a hot drink and pen and paper at the ready...prepared to dive deep...past the disappointments and changes I was not happy with...to sit with them in the quiet pitch black of a 5am morning...writing even when the words do not come, pushing past the obvious stream of consciousness and into the deeper meanings and tiny epiphanies. I'm not yet ready for that and that's ok. I keep reminding myself that I am a child of the Universe, a daughter of the Earth. My siblings the trees and wildlife, my ancestors the waters and the rocks, and the flowers and fruits my future...and I am indeed on time for my life!

...The shadows are long, the snow blue...the green of the hemlock near grey in the cold air...pumpkins frozen to the ground, long hollowed out by an assortment of woodland critters after they made their way from Autumn decor back to the hedge line of the woods...the thinning sun illuminates melting icicles on the eaves and the lone Cardinal has returned to enjoy his seeds...

(from my sketchbook writings 12/22/2024)

I'm in a void space now. A place of rest and appreciation for the fleeting solstice light, a time to reflect and regroup. A time to begin the first planning stages for the new year. I'm finishing up some hand painted holiday cards (albeit late) for my international friends. Working on a small Imbolc inspired drawing as a wedding gift. My orange slices have dried and are ready to be hung from a lovely gnarled stick spanning my kitchen window. Presents are wrapped and carefully placed under the tree. I'm ready to settle into the coziness of my home for the quiet months. I'm going to rest now.

If you haven't 'won' this year...that's ok. Perhaps not all of our years are meant for noticeable progress. Some are sent to be the sticks jammed into the spokes of our wheels, and when we crash and scrape up our knees...it's meant to serve as a keen reminder...setbacks happen, insecurities happen, things can look bleak, but that little pale flame still exists, admit it. It's there and needs just a bit of kindling to grow. Protect your little flame, my Dears, even when the world and society and modern life tries to stomp it out. Remember...the Powers that Be gave you this consciousness in this lifetime and I find it hard to believe, with all the odds, of you being you right here, right now...reading this random little snippet on the internet...that whatever that Power might be intended you for much greater things than our worldly society can bring. Our natural earth is resting. Do the same. Protect your flame. Begin to dream...and then plan. Your kindred spirits are out here, support you, and are cheering you on!

Many blessings I wish upon you,

Archaena