The Beauty of Frost, The Power of Sunlight

Happy Winter Solstice!! Enjoy the sun while its up for its shortest amount of time all year.

Frost (Photo credit: ahisgett)

Been looking out across the park this morning at a layer of frost.  If I didn’t live in the desert I might have thought it was a smattering of snow.  We get frost here about a dozen times over the winter months. Fortunately I can usually just throw some sheets over my potted flowers, my veggie garden and a couple of frost sensitive plants.  They stay just cosy enough under that thin layer of fabric to keep from freezing. That just about defines our winter.

If only it were so easy to keep my flowers flourishing in the summertime here.  The price we pay for the extremely mild winter is an inversely proportionate brutal summer.  But that is a distance memory as well as a future I’m going to pretend away for now.

Here’s  a quote by Albert Camus that seems fitting, in a way:

“In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”            

Some days, this quote seems more true than others. On good days, it feels very true.  On days with too much weight in them, too many obstacles piled up, I’m not so sure I believe it.

Frost Ferns (Photo credit: CaptPiper)

Maybe that’s the problem right there. My lack of belief in myself.  I doubt my strengths, my ability to cope.  Which is silly.  Why doubt when I have evidence mounted to the ceiling that says otherwise?

Is it human nature to doubt ourselves?  Some people seem so sure of themselves, so sure of their invincibility, so confident.  Or is that a front, an act, a fakery?

I once had an impromptu discussion with a group of women about how we’re taught to see ourselves.  I still have the napkin that someone wrote on while we were talking. (thanks, Christine)  What we see in television and movies, in advertisements, in books, what we observe in human relationships, all tell us what the world expects us to be. Which is silly, mindless, inconsequential and powerless.  Think about it, look at the television shows you watch and tell me that isn’t what’s portrayed.

We decided that who and what we really are is more along these lines:

wise, sober, fun, intelligent, creative, focused, insightful, important, beloved, valuable, respected, powerful, influential, dependable, impactful, independent, stalwart, self-sufficient.

When was the last time you saw a person portrayed this way?  Do you believe those things about yourself?  Do I believe those things about myself.

Can I be fun without being mindless and silly? Do I really believe that I am respected, valuable and loved? Do I realize that I can have an impact, that I am powerful and influential? Do I feel, am I, independent and self-sufficient? Do I have insight, am I focused, am I creative and wise?

Maybe I need to remind myself every single day that I am all of those strong, good things.

Maybe the warmth and sunlight within me, needs to shine stronger to burn off the frost that the world would cover me with.

English: Winter Sunlight in Commonty Wood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Here’s a fun, revival version of a song that might add a kick to your step today while it reminds you of your own sunlight and power.

This Little Light of Mine