The loon breaks the silence of the morning
Awakening a wildness to be who we were meant to be all along
As I dreamt up this year’s holiday card, whose message began with the lines above, I was flooded with a memory from this past summer:
Asleep in our Adirondack cottage in the thick of summer’s heat, I was awakened by a loon on the lake, cutting through the complete silence of moments before.
The sound of a loon is hypnotic; mysterious…and beautiful.
Without thinking, I got out of bed and was drawn to the water’s edge, where I gazed up at the stars and the moon.
The message I heard was clear: It’s time.
Time to slow down.
Time to celebrate the miracles of the past.
Time to recenter and forge my path forward.
Later, as I sat down to write this final note of 2022 on the blog, I found myself reliving other moments and miracles from the year:
✨ Waking up on a beautiful morning after a rain-filled night, with the grass glittering under the fresh and clean sky. The birds singing.
✨ Being with my dad as he passed, and continuing to feel his spirit in different ways daily.
✨ Holding my new granddaughter to my chest for an hour as she slept. Feeling my heart expand even larger than I thought possible with the birth of our third grandchild; three little loonlets to love.
✨ Growing ever deeper in my painting and experiencing the simultaneous magic of being both student and teacher as I passed on what I know through workshops and classes.
✨ Catching the light in flocks of birds; connecting with sheep as they nourished themselves with food; waking up to the sun and feeling it throughout my body.
There are the big trips — to Staithes, Key West, Charlotte, TN, Brooklyn. There are the major transitions — birth, and death.
And then there are the daily miracles that come in small moments and micro connections…
The ones that remind me of how wildly alive we all are.
Not every day brings opportunity for pause, for slowing down, and for reflection.
In the moments I can create for it — through painting, through journaling, through walking and movement — I find myself amazed at the abundance of miracles I can find, even amongst the chaos.
As we usher in the winter solstice and the new year, I hope you find the opportunity to slow down, reflect, and recenter.
In there, I hope you’ll find peace + permission.
Peace in knowing that you are doing the best you can with what you have, and everything will work out as it’s meant to.
And permission to let yourself awaken your wildness and let the next year be expansive.
I’ll leave you with the final lines of my holiday card, as I hope it’s what becomes true for you:
May your new year be invigorating with heart and soul
Full of love and inspiration.
xo Cindy