Winter Solstice Reflection - Dec 21

As Liz welcomes the winter solstice, she reflects on the balance between light and darkness. In today’s 5 Minutes In Nature, she explores the feeling of transition that arises on this turning point of the year—when we begin our slow return to the light. She wonders whether this shift in nature mirrors the transitions in our own lives, as we move through periods of darkness and learn to welcome the light once more.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.

And it's the winter solstice for us in the northern hemisphere.

This is the shortest day,

This is the time when the night is the longest and this is the time when daylight is shortest and this is the moment of transition and change.

It's the moment that marks hope.

And today is a reflection on darkness and light.

You see it's so easy when it is dark to feel that the darkness will be with you for all time and what I love about the seasons that we experience and that I experience is that actually this time of year when we are at the longest day,

This is a reminder of hope that the seasons are changing.

And as I look up in my village,

I'm looking up,

It's dark at the moment and I can see the sparkle of different festive lights in the windows.

I love it that we instinctively celebrate this time of year.

We've got Christmas,

That's the Christian festival that I celebrate and one of the things I love about Christmas are the lights,

The lighting of candles,

The lights on the tree,

The sense of light in the midst of darkness.

So today is a reflection on that,

It's a reflection that things are changing and I wonder if this relates to you in your life.

Maybe you've been through a darkness,

Can you see that there will be a change,

That maybe today is that change and often the change is imperceptible because tomorrow will also be dark and the day after that will be dark and for several weeks there will be a sense that the nights are still long but today it changes and imperceptibly at first the day will lengthen,

The light will return and the spring will waken up the earth once again.

Sometimes it feels like a long way away but it's not,

It's just around the corner.

So today is a reflection on the winter solstice,

It's not just about celebrating the physical light returning,

The sunlight returning to our lives,

It's also a reflection that maybe this is a time to reflect on the light within us returning to our lives,

The light that enlivens us,

That wakes us up,

That brings us joy and peace of mind.

As we focus on that light we realise that the darkness will not last and the light and springtime is returning.

Today is the day we celebrate that.

Reviews

Thank you Liz 🙏🏽 The last few dark evenings I’ve heard the birds singing as if it was Spring, and I felt that hope rise in me 💕