To steal a line from Game of Thrones, ‘Winter is coming’ because today  is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night and, the official start of the fourth season. But, the good news is, from here on in, the days slowly get longer and we emerge, yawning and stretching into Spring. I love this poem by Rebecca Parker which sums up the slow, yin energy of the season. A time to slow down; for introspection and rest.

Perhaps
for a moment
the typewriters will stop clicking,
the wheels stop rolling
the computers desist from computing,
and a hush will fall over the city.
For an instant, in the stillness,
the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs poised
in the crystalline darkness, and then
gracefully
tilts.
Let there be a season
when holiness is heard, and
the splendor of living is revealed.
Stunned to stillness by beauty
we remember who we are and why we are here.
There are inexplicable mysteries.
We are not alone.
In the universe there moves a Wild One
whose gestures alter earth’s axis
toward love.
In the immense darkness
everything spins with joy.
The cosmos enfolds us.
We are caught in a web of stars,
cradled in a swaying embrace,
rocked by the holy night,
babes of the universe.
Let this be the time
we wake to life,
like spring wakes, in the moment
of winter solstice.