Lighting candles in the evening, inviting warmth and light in.
Every Tuesday and Thursday evening (from 5-6) I have dinner with my mom in the little restaurant just next door to Kaiya's ballet class. This past Thursday, as we sat waiting for our check to come, I realized that something was very different from just the week before at the same time. It was still daylight! Yes, friends, this means that the promise of the Winter Solstice is true, spring is coming and our dear sun is growing strong once more.
I take serious solace in that this year. Usually I don't begin yearning for spring til the end of February. But this year... I believe it's the unseasonably warm weather, the complete lack of snow here. Winter just isn't holding it's same appeal to me this year. I'm already eager for the bright, sunny days, things growing, everything growing.
Today, while I was supposed to be doing my weekly cleaning, I did some more purging. We really don't have too much stuff, I don't think. It's just that we have a very small house and everything is very visible. And I find the older I get, the more I am willing to and want to let go of things. I do this in steps. I go through at least a couple of rooms at a time, looking for what I can let go of. Sometimes I come up with just a few things, other times I have boxes and boxes. It's not that we have a lot of stuff... it's that I'm very willing to let go of much of what we do have. And the more I go over an area (once every month or two) I realize I can let this stuff go. But I don't do it all at once, I think I would end up with regret. Time passes and I can let it go.
I've been eyeing what's hanging on the walls for the past couple of months. Many things I love, photos, random art pieces, shelves. But after some time I decided I would love it even more if there was just nothing hanging there, just space. So, today most of it came down. I kept what I truly love and joyfully put the rest in a box and took it to the Salvation Army.
Right now, looking out over my uncluttered walls, knowing that behind my craft cupboard door it's just a little more emptied... it feels really good. Really clean and fresh.
