The Shortest Day and the Brightest Star

Today marks the shortest day of, what many may consider, the longest year. To mark the occasion, Jupiter and Saturn will appear "as one" in the night sky. [I have read to look into the sky, toward the southwest about a half hour after sun set]

I find comfort in looking upwards on any given day but this day sounds momentous. It is said this event will not occur until May, 2080 and the last time it took place was about 400 years ago.

For this to happen so close to Christmas Day during a year of global upheaval seems almost ... biblical.

As we officially mark the beginning of winter on the darkest day of a particularly dark year, our days will now start to get longer. 

There is hope on the horizon. Winter is always followed by spring. A vaccination is on its way. It is always darkest before dawn.

There are untold amounts of people who have been tragically affected by the virus we call COVID-19 ... let there be light. Please. Let there be lightness that follows the heaviness of events past. 

It's a Wonderful Life

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and decided to utilize my wakefulness to go to the bathroom and do a quick check to see if a rabbit (or three) was in our front yard. The moment my feet hit the floor, I thought "I LOVE my life!"

Pure, uncensored words from my heart and soul came to my mind. I love my life. I am not only grateful for the simple life I live but for the appreciation I have for it. 

I long for nothing. Not a thing. I am thankful I can fill our cupboards, fill my gas tank, live in a home that is not only safe, warm and comfortable, it feels like a warm embrace to live within these four walls of ours.

I started "loving my walls" decades and decades ago. It all started in 1979...

My one year old son and I moved into our new home. It was a subsidized townhouse condominium which  was everything I could have ever hoped for. A brand new affordable home and a brand new life. Our future felt bright. 

I was young, starry eyed and in love. "I love our walls!!", I vividly remember thinking.

We lived under that roof until 1987. There were many tumultuous years as my on again, off again marriage lived out stories within those very walls. If those walls could talk, I wouldn't want to hear what they had to say. 

It was a blessing in disguise when my husband refused to leave. I didn't even fight. I simply packed up our children and drove away. I didn't want to live within those walls any longer.

We moved to a new city, new province and a new townhouse which immediately replicated the safe, comfortable and warm embrace our prior home provided. I remember settling in to our new lives, feeling a sense of serenity I hadn't felt in a long time and thinking the words, "I love our walls!" We were home again.

Our final and current home was one that simply called out to me and begged us to move in. It was love at first sight and I couldn't hide the fact from the seller. The price was firm and I didn't care. I knew this house was destined to be our home.

These walls have a few stories to tell. I have fought to maintain the serenity I found within our home. There have been numerous occasions when I found myself once again thinking, "I love our walls!!"

Loving our "walls" had little to nothing to do with the condition of our home. These walls represent everything that is important to me. Safety, security, comfort, warmth and serenity. Everything I aspire to feel deep within myself. Loving our walls has everything to do with loving my life.

I hear the echo of discontent in so many I talk with. For any and every number of reasons, there is unease, worry, heartache, loss, fear and a general feeling of weariness. 

I wish I could bottle up my inner sense of contentment and gift it to those who are lacking what I have in abundance. If I could wave my magic wand and wish you anything, my wish for you would be to wake up in the wee hours of the morning and have the words, "I love my life!" spring directly from your subconsciousness to the fore front of your mind.

It's a wonderful life I am living. Please come on over and I'll share it with you.