June 21st is the day of the Summer Solstice and the longest day of light for those in the Northern Hemisphere. The year has reached its halfway mark. Being from England summer meant being outdoors as much as possible. Lots of garden teas and strawberries and cream, picnics on local beaches, and long, light evenings completing the days. Japan’s summers are very different with the temperatures and humidity levels so high, for me it is more an indoor experience. It is about brief times in the garden, occasional early morning walks or strolls at sunset, and being grateful for the air-conditioning in my car.
The Summer Solstice, being six months on into the year, is a good opportunity to look back and enjoy again those peak moments in its first half, and also celebrate the successes of goals made at its beginning. Time too to pause and ponder on the second half and imagine how one would like it to be, what excites one’s thinking about it to achieve and experience. I remember several years back, at this time of year, taking to the local Clean Centre, a large number of journals, two hundred and fifty in all, that I had written from 2003 to 2017, to be disposed of. They recorded certain both physical and mental challenging times starting at midlife, that became a lifeline. Before I took them to the centre I spent a day and a half quickly and briefly scanning through some of them. What struck me, what moved me was a consistency regarding the deep longings, dreamed for outcomes held in my heart, year after year, the passion for them never wavering. It became the power that helped fuel an ongoing process of change and transformation supporting my big vision for ‘more’. In my mind and in my words, no matter the uphill, I stayed committed. Growing with the years and getting to know myself better in this very slow time frame – no quick fix an option, with the Law of Gestation leading. More and more I now am knowing an inner freedom I could never have imagined. It can rest comfortably now on the edge of ever waiting outer realities full with possibilities.
Go Well.