The morns are meeker than they were
Today’s post takes its title from one of (many) favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, which is truly about autumn. But I think of it now, when the sun each morning has a “meeker” quality to it, when it shows up at all. It hangs low in the sky, with an almost watery quality to it.
The morns are meeker than they were —
The nuts are getting brown —
The berry's cheek is plumper —
The Rose is out of town.
The Maple wears a gayer scarf —
The field a scarlet gown —
Lest I should be old fashioned
I'll put a trinket on.
Photo credit Melisa Popanicic on Unsplash
I love the slant of light at this time of year (which is a reference to yet another Dickinson poem, “There is a certain Slant of light—”). The sun simply doesn’t get that high in the sky, which leads to lovely, long shadows.
Of course, it also means far less natural creation of Vitamin D, so I hope if you need it, you are taking Vitamin D supplements—check with your medical practitioner to see if they are needed. But by all means, follow Miss Dickinson’s advice and “put a trinket on”, whether its a pin, a necklace, a scarf or something else.
This time of year, I tend to put a couple of favorite CDs on. One is Barenaked for the Holidays, which is from Barenaked Ladies, and includes lots of fun original songs, plus a few covers, including “I Have a Little Dreidel”. There’s a really pretty setting of the blessings for lighting the menorah at Chanukah, which I particularly love. The other one I listen to quite a lot is from Sting, and is called If On a Winter’s Night.
The Sting album is fairly introspective, and mostly original music, save for a cover of “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” Much of it is about the season, not necessarily Christmas itself. My very favorite song on the album is one entitled “You Only Cross My Mind in Winter,” which is set to a tune by J.S. Bach. The first stanza, like Dickinson’s poem, references the low trajectory of the sun this time of year:
Always this winter child,
December sun sits low against the sky,
Cold light on frozen fields,
The cattle in their stable lowing.
You can listen to this song here, if you’d like.
Photo credit Adam Chang at Unsplash. Quote by Sting.
Why am I sharing this?
Well, we can all use a bit of loveliness in our day, for one thing.
Also, with the sun sitting low in the sky, I find myself slowing down a bit. Easing into the day more slowly. Taking my walks and doing my yoga, but in a more easy manner. Less pushing, less noise, less hustle. More ease, more quiet, more flow.
One thing that I have noticed is that the coronavirus is actually encouraging me to lean into those slower practices a bit more. If crowds aren’t safe, there are no parties or extensive shopping. (I go to the grocery store and post office from time to time, and all other shopping has been done online.)
For me, winter is a nurturing season, a time to go within. “To sleep, perchance to dream,” as Shakespeare’s Hamlet says.
One of the things I am dreaming up is an online gathering early in the new year to allow us to gather, to dream separately together, to claim those dreams by writing them down, to create a few goals for ourselves, and to plan out a few beginning steps each of us can take toward our own goals and dreams.
I will not be charging into the new year. I will not be making a list of resolutions.
Instead, I will be envisioning what I want my days to look and feel like, dreaming of things I would like to create, both for my business and my own life, and getting ready to ease my way into 2021.
Once we are there, and the new year is underway, I will be sharing more about this new program, which I expect to launch in February. For sure it will be priced under $100, to allow as many people as possible to participate.
