Winter Solstice and Where I've Been

From the pages of my Diary:

I had romantic ideas about writing tonight.  I bought new pens, thirsty for paper and now seemingly too excited to figure out my penmanship.

I keep picturing myself under the dark-sky body of Nuit near the water's edge.  The lakes and ponds are frozen, decorated with patterns from wind and snow.  It's not that cold outside, but I'm cozy inside communing by spirit because most parts of me want to stay cocooned inside.  Only a small part of me wants to actually go out the backdoor to the pond and stand there in the dark.

I feel as if I should, instead, greet the sun in the morning with an offering of hot herbal tea and raspberries and celebrate his return to the throne.  This past year has held me through many dark lonely nights, and while I still experience moments of sadness, there has been a bountiful showering of light to encourage and guide me.

For the last few years I have chosen a word to be key catalysts in the coming year.  Last year my word was EPIC.  In spite of my feeling down and struggling emotionally through the falling apart of my marriage I tried to keep my spirits up and do something I felt would be EPIC every now and then.  

Looking back over my year I think I accomplished that!  

  • I travelled to NYC by myself to begin the year
  • I attended my first equine photography workshop in Kentucky
  • I had two of my photographs chosen to be a part of an art gallery exhibit
  • I played my harp at the Indiana State House for a wedding
  • I was event photographer for the Global Pyramid Conference in Chicago
  • I met a National Geographic photographer, David Alan Harvey, at an art gallery in Louisville
  • I completed the 3-Dune Challenge at Indiana Dunes State Park  
  • I skinny-dipped in Lake Michigan (no picture lol!)
  • I hired a videographer to shoot BTS video for a promo I want on my photography website (still to be completed)
  • I had a horse equipment company approach me about using one of my images from Rolex in their advertising (they decided against it...but still...they asked!)  
  • I went to Egypt and swam in the Nile River
  • I went to Italy and climbed Mt Vesuvius
  • I saw the Pope and Attended the Papal Blessing at St Peter's Square with my camera...soooo my camera has now been blessed by the POPE!
  • I prayed in St Peter's at the tomb of Pope John Paul
  • I taught a workshop at a well-established retreat in Michigan
  • I successfully translated one of the utterances in the Pyramid Text of Unas from hieroglyphs (a work in progress)

There are surely a few more EPIC things I accomplished but that's all I can think of for now.

2017 is going to be big.  I couldn't feel it for quite a while...for at least half of 2016...but I can feel it now and I know it's going to be big!  I feel like it is going to be too big for just one word, even a word as grand as EPIC, and so I've chosen two.

Magic

and

Adventure

I've decided on those words because of some of the experiences I've had on my recent trip to Egypt and Italy that reminded me of other magical adventures I've had during this EPIC year.  I decided I wanted more of that...more of what she's having!  I want to feel, I want to create, I want to be out there in the world experiencing all of the tastes and sights and colors and textures and sounds...swallow it whole, swirl it around and pull the magic from it right out of my core.  

I want to share what I have experienced and continue to just follow where my feet take me and inspire not just others...but myself along the way.  Because it feels good.  Because magic is out there and adventure is waiting.  Waiting in the darkness of this long Winter night for the return of the light.  

It's coming.  

I'm ready.

A Auset RohnComment