Celebrate the solstice
The shortest day of the year is almost upon us
Hello hello. I hope as you read this, you’re winding down for the year, or at least getting ready to wind down a little. To those who can’t fully unplug over the holidays - healthcare workers, retail workers, caregivers of all stripes - I hope you’re finding little ways to grab rest, drinking your morning coffee a little slower, showering a little longer.
It is a natural time to slow down: the days continue to shorten, the nights continue to lengthen (in the northern hemisphere, that is - apologies, as always, to friends in the southern hemisphere for my complete bias towards the top half of the globe in this newsletter). It’s a good time to remember that we are animals on a planet, affected by the rhythm of light and dark. A friend who saw the below post on Instagram about an interview I did for NPR Life Kit (which you may remember from the last newsletter’s slush pile), messaged me that she’s been too tired to get to the gym lately, and I reminded her that it’s normal to feel that way at this time of year. It’s slow season, a time to embrace the snooze.
It’s also, depending on where you live, perhaps a very gray time of year. In Amsterdam, we’ve recently broken a record set in 1993: the longest cloudy streak in 31 years, 8 days with no sun. Which, depending on how you look at it, is either a confirmation of the Netherlands’ gloom (8 days, no sun!) or, in my estimation, a confirmation that the Netherlands’ reputation for exceedingly gray, cloudy winters is overblown (everyone complains that it’s gray for months, and here’s proof that a mere 8 sunless days is enough to break a 3-decade old record).
Regardless, the solstice is nearly upon us: it’s tomorrow, December 21st. While it might not feel like it, that means that, starting on Sunday, the days will be getting longer: we’ll no longer be journeying into darkness, but out of it.
It’s a busy time - maybe you’re just wrapping up at work, or gearing up for (or in the midst of) holiday travel or prep. Maybe you’re trying to finish the last few Christmas cookies or getting ready to celebrate your first holiday season with a new baby (shoutout to my two sisters-in-law, respectively). Maybe you’re still buying gifts or wrapping presents or figuring out how to navigate the holidays in a new way this year, for reasons joyful or otherwise. So it’s easy to overlook the solstice, which often gets shafted so close to the other holidays.
But today I’m going to ask you to make a little time and space to mark the shortest day of the year. In the midst of everything else you’re doing, do one more thing, tomorrow, to celebrate the solstice.
Maybe you go adventurous: take a hike during the short daylight, go stargazing at night, find a cold natural body of water to swim in and do a polar bear plunge. Maybe you go cozy: make a fire in the fireplace, light twice as many candles as usual, watch your favorite Christmas movie, take a bath in the dark. Maybe you go edible: make pancakes for breakfast or soup for dinner or order really good takeout. Maybe you go snoozy: take a disorienting but restorative nap from 4:30-6, as the sun sets, go to bed early, wear your pajamas all day.
Connecting with the solstice, marking it in some way, really helps us practice so many of the strategies for embracing winter: finding joy in the darkness, connecting to the rhythm of nature, observing the passage of time. Tying behaviors big and small to the cycles of nature ritualizes them, helping us absorb the fact that the days, for the next six months, will lengthen. Pausing, briefly, to observe the solstice, to make it special, allows us to be ruled by something bigger than our calendars and schedules and routines, something older and wilder that connects us all in space and time.
Happy winter solstice, everyone.
Notes from the slush pile:
Looking for a spookier, or more mischievous, way to celebrate the solstice? This article shares 10 dark midwinter traditions you can try.
A solstice science question: Why isn’t the darkest time of year also the coldest?
If you’re imagining Polar Night in the Arctic as a time full of darkness, lacking color and light, these pictures from Tromsø will help you see how beautiful a time with no sun can be:
Need more on winter? A reminder that my book, How to Winter, is available in both a US and UK version!
Winter Solstice is one of my favourite celebrations of the year! To be outside - sun or cloud - and know that the cycle of the year has turned and the days are now getting longer is such a magical thing. I'm still working on my relationship with winter & the Dark Days but Wintry Mix does brighten them thank you!
Your “How to Winter” mindset helps me put one foot in front of the other on these shortest of days. Rock on Kari.