Summer solstice

The longest day and shortest night of the year. The peak of summer.

It was certainly hot and steamy today to celebrate this solstice and when the storm came in, it was such a relief! Unfortunately, it didn’t last long enough to fully cool down but it felt like a proper summer night.

As I sat with my children tonight, the oldest took all the crystals out of the house to charge them under the full moon and then my youngest climbed onto the Frangipani tree to add his own mandala around the crystals. It happened very organically and I love how children (even the wildest!) know when it’s time to tap into something greater than themselves. Something sacred.

Traditions and sabbaths have been kind of lost along the way but when they’re being remembered and re-created, people know deep inside that it’s only about remembering and putting them back into practice is a birthright!.

So as I sat with my children, we spoke about what we love about summer and what we’re grateful for. And as I’m contemplating what it means on a deeper level for myself, I contemplate how the summer of my 42 year old self feels like. What seeds did I plant in spring that have blossomed and what is my inner landscape? Am I happy with what my inner garden looks like and what am I gonna keep and harvest in Lammas, the next sabbath? And what will I be ready to thanks and let compost under the autumn leaves?

Simple contemplation yet so important when it becomes a way of living. It has become such a part of my life to live with the cycles and to understand how they affect us, how we are all part of the same thing whether we are aware of it or not.

My biggest celebration on this solstice is to have this website live and to really feel ready to offer my gift to the world. If I can help someone who is struggling physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, my sense of purpose will feel completely and utterly satisfied. To get to this point in time where I can feel like I have so many tools up my sleeves in order to be of service sends me in a deep state of gratitude. It’s been a long journey to get here but it was all worth it.

I also want to celebrate my first year of The Advanced Diploma of Health Science behind me. This also has been a crazy ride with one of my children at preschool only 2 or 3 days a week but somehow, I pulled it off and I gained so much knowledge and understanding around the human body and the plant kingdom. Another tradition that has been somehow forgotten in certain parts of the world but to reintroduce the power of plants as medicine is my mission and healing people with their own body wisdom should be something we all get taught as we grow up.

YES, this summer solstice feels quite potent and powerful for me this year and I am happy to celebrate myself and those around me! I am surrounded by beautiful, creative and magical people and THAT is something to celebrate!!!

So my invitation to you tonight is to take a moment to contemplate your own summer. What are you grateful for? And as much as I believe in the practice of gratitude, I also would like to invite you to have a good honest look at the whole picture. Sure, there are plenty of beautiful seeds that you certainly did plant but what are the weeds that grew as well? Care needs to be taken here and it has to be done with gentleness and kindness towards yourself but pure honestly gets you a long way. So what are these weeds and how can you make it better next time around? Once you had a good look at them in the eye, thank them and let them go. They will compost for you to have a fertile soil at the end of winter. They’re just as useful and the blooming flowers and fruits that are your inner garden.

This is a wholesome approach. It’s not about being optimistic or pessimistic but simply realistic.

Happy Summer Solstice everyone of the Southern Hemisphere and deep gratitude for being who you are cause this world wouldn’t be the same without you!