30 Nov December: Lightness in the Dark

The Uses of Sorrow

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.

-Mary Oliver

Here we are, the last energy update of what has been a most incredibly unique year (to say the least.) We have been challenged in so many ways, on so many levels. We have been growing up in very sobering circumstances alone and together.

Considering that we are closing  out 2020 with two eclipses and a holiday season in possible lockdown, it’s safe to say that the learning and growing is not over.

This has been a time of alchemy, of change and transformation that has had us sit in the fire of our own being and burn away much of what we though we knew about ourselves and the world. It has not been easy, but, one hopes— useful.

These are times that have demanded to know if we are willing to walk our talk and align with our deep integrity. These are times that have pushed us past our breaking points to the place where deep surrender lies. These are times that have tested us, our faith and belief in ourselves and each other over and over again.

Everything we thought we knew has been challenging us to look deeper, to be clearer, to step closer towards our own truth and yet, at our most separate, never have we been more connected, more responsible for the well being of each other. We know, with out a doubt, that our actions affect others. We are being asked to truly, to become much more aware more aware of each others health, safety and wellbeing and that can only be a good thing moving forward. Some of these lessons have been fierce, so incredibly fierce, others have been gentle. Regardless of who we are we have all been called to the fire and no one has been untouched by its flames.

What an incredible year, so full of suffering, transformation and hope.

To finish off this solar year, the energy is really wanting us to lighten up a little. It wants us to remember that growth and learning can be playful too. The the mind can get bogged down by bad news, by fear and greed. It can get furious when told that the future is uncertain and that yet again, we are not in control.

We are not in control and have two choices—hang on tighter or let go.

The universe is vast and mysterious, it is beyond what our minds can understand and we are a part of it! We are a part of this ever evolving changing existence, and just like we trust the intelligence of our bodies to digest food after we eat or heal when we have been injured. Wouldn’t it make sense that the universe that created our bodies would be intelligent as well? Wouldn’t it make sense that it is actually far more complex and beautiful than we could ever imagine? Lightness doesn’t make darkness go away or magic away important challenges, its just another way though them. We can laugh at ourselves, shake off our severity and open up to the mystery of being alive. We can dance with the changes, with the ebb and flow of this wild time we are privileged to be apart of.

We can choose to soften, or contract.

The impulse to surrender is as deep within the human heart as the impulse to transcend, the impulse to love, or the impulse to help another person, and it comes with the same intuition of fundamental oneness of the whole.

-Sally Kempton

What can we lose by allowing lightness to permeate our being? What do we gain by contracting over our losses? What if we could, even for a moment soften into the mystery and let it be ok as it is, as we are?

This is the last month of 2020, here in all of our humanity we have the opportunity to remember that even a box full of darkness, can be a gift.

With Love,

Jacqui

End note * In the spirit of lightness and transforming the dark, please consider supporting small local businesses this year for your holiday gifts. Buy gift cards at you local gyms or a class pass form your neighbourhood yoga studio. Order food from your family restaurant and gifts from local artists. There are so many incredible products and services lovingly and painstaking created by small business. Share your favourites in the comments below!