Dear Reader,
It feels like just last week that I was writing a post for the winter solstice, near the end of last year. Now, the summer solstice has passed, and 2011 is half over. Last week I witnessed the full effects of the long twilight on a summer evening, or “Simmer Dim” as it’s called here in Shetland, only because of jet lag. I had just returned home from my trip to the States and, unable to sleep after skipping several time zones, found myself sitting on the couch in our living room at 2 A.M.
The light outside had lasted past midnight. I kept expecting full darkness to take over – but it never did.
The sky retained a faint, soft glow at a point on the horizon I would not normally associate with the sun. Then, so gently I could barely notice at first, instead of fading to black, the light began to grow stronger again, and fill more of the eastern sky. I could feel the sun out there somewhere below the horizon – trying to play tricks on me?
By now it was after 3 A.M., and I realized that the sun was actually rising again. I have never seen anything like it. Even though I was exhausted from traveling, and wishing I could sleep, I was amazed by what I saw and grateful to be awake through the night to experience it.
This is one of the moments I will remember from 2011, perhaps one of the more spectacular ones. Many others, though, are smaller, simpler, unassuming.
As the first half of this year of excellence comes to a close, dear reader, I invite you to take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on some of the experiences from these first six months of 2011 that stand out for you, the ones for which you feel truly grateful. In fact, to help you really find those moments, you might imagine yourself years from now, looking back; what experiences from this year so far might stick with you?
For me, far ahead of the night the sun didn’t set, I think I will remember most vividly years from now the times this year my step-daughter has come home from school and sat across from me at the dining room table, where I sometimes work in the afternoon, as we chatted about classes, music, her friends, global warming…
Simple, right?
Sometimes, those memories are the best. So go ahead and take a leisurely look back over the past six months. What makes you smile? What experiences feel like they have become a part of you, and added real quality to your life? What has fed your spirit so far this year?
Next week we will look ahead to the rest of the year we are in the midst of creating…
I honor your loving heart,
John
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