The Shifting Light

Tonight, I noticed it. The first hint of the light shifting.

It was a beautiful, clear winter evening. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, just pure light.

I was walking my dog Harper, and I was captivated by the setting sun, so we walked towards the west.

At sunset, the light of the sun was reflected in the snow, making it look almost like the ocean.

And the light felt like it had shifted just a bit.

This is a magical moment every year, the first time that I notice the shift in the light after the Winter Solstice.

The light has widened, just a tiny bit. It is always subtle, but undeniable.

This returning of the light is always a moment of joy and hope for me. It is just the smallest hint of new possibilities, and of awakening.

I also noticed a slight bittersweet feeling within me. Part of me isn’t ready to even begin the awakening process yet. Something in me still needs more incubation time, and more darkness. Something in me wants to stay dormant for a while longer.

We have deep wisdom in us that knows these perennial cycles, intimately, and knows what is best for us. This wisdom knows what is needed.

Luckily, there is a lot of darkness and a lot of winter still to be lived this year. I don’t have to come out of my cave just yet. That part of me that wants more incubation time will get its wish.

But, simultaneously, after seeing the sunset and the shifting light tonight, something deep in me also knows that the day will come when I will welcome the much fuller light. There will be a time when I will be nothing but excited about the inevitable awakening that is Spring.

Where are you, in the cycle of reawakening?