With thanks and gratitude
Just a quick email to all subscribers to ‘The Art of Enchantment’ – whether free or paying – to say thank you for being interested enough to read my random ramblings in this Substack publication, which only sprang into being in June. I’m not one of those writers who believes that an audience isn’t necessary – that the act of writing itself is enough. If I felt that no one was reading, engaging, thinking, then I simply wouldn’t want to write. Readers are everything to me, and I’m grateful for you all. Knowing that so many of you are engaging with what I put out there inspires me to spend more time reflecting, researching, finding new ways to belong to this world so that I can share them all with you. Which is what I’ll be doing over the rest of this holiday season – digging deep, and dreaming deep.
We always aim to have the quietest Christmas possible. We’re both far away from what little family we have left, and have friends scattered all over the place, so it’s easy enough to achieve. For me, it seems so important in these darkest days of the year to take some solitary time out, for regrouping and reimagining. The year ahead is going to bring a move, more changes, more shapeshiftings and metamorphoses, and the older I get, the more important it is to me to enter into such periods mindfully and with gratitude. And with energy! – hence the need for a little time out to gather strength for the growing times ahead.
In the meantime, Maeve, The Cat Formerly Known As the Kitten of the Apocalypse, is well on the way to recovery from an infection and is celebrating in her own inimitable style by engaging in full-on warfare against the Christmas tree. Our three border collie dogs, Fionn, Jess and Luna, are anticipating a good few turkey scraps interspersed with the inevitable walks and naps. My sky-high pile of books is slowly diminishing. David is preparing to begin a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in January, in the broad field of Irish linguistics. And so the wheel turns again.
‘The Cat is on our mat …’
Wishing you all the rest, richness and nourishment of the long, deep dark. And see you the other side.
With love and gratitude,
Sharon
This is an entire season for quiet reflection for us. We take an hour or two to entertain our little grandson each day, walk our dog and feed the few sheep and chickens we have left, but then spend the rest of our days in dreaming, reading and discussing our plans for the gardens next year and our old age, as if at 70 and 81 we had not already reached it!
Reading Hagitude is supporting me in accepting that what others have dismissed as my long-standing peculiarity is actually a blessing. You don't know me, but I think of you as a friend, someone who openly discussed their own beliefs, thoughts and feelings that so often resonate with my own. Thank you.
Enjoy the peace of today as you prepare and strengthen yourself for change.
Merry Christmas to you too Sharon, from a mild and wet County Sligo. Thanks for all of the inspiring posts and poem recommendations over the year. I’ll leave you with my winter poem:
earth traveller
make the cold wind
and ruffle the
night awake
let holy fragments
swirl then hide them
in air and silver light
then come to us again
out of the shadows
flicker bright
All the best for 2023.