The Sunday Salon - Winter Solstice

Happy Solstice everyone! The Sunday Salon logo is perfect for the coming of the light. Those of us in the northern hemisphere will start seeing longer days after today. For you in the southern, your nights will lengthen (think of it as more reading time). And for you equatorians - I guess not much changes, does it?

Last night we went to a Solstice gathering, walked there and back through drifts of snow and biting wind. One part of the celebration that I loved was the storytelling. We each brought and shared a short story or poem about winter. This kind of event happens far too seldom these days I think. Consider the families and villages pre-TV and how storytelling was an inherent part of culture and a way of passing wisdom down through the generations. Yes, stories get told on TV, in movies, on the internet but it's a more passive activity and the goal is primarily to entertain. I wonder if blogging could be our modern equivalent of story circles? We come here regularly and share pieces of our lives, our wisdom, our daily activities and our major events. But you don't have the benefit of tone of voice or dramatic pause on a blog.

One guest last night read The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service with quite a dramatic flare. It was delightful. And these are the moments that bring a group together in a circle rather than all the little pockets of conversation that tend to form at parties. We have a shared experience. Laurie and I are planning to have a storytelling gathering on New Years Day. We did this a few years ago and invited our guests to come in their pajamas, join us for brunch and share a story or poem or song. We may just make this an annual tradition.
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Happy Holidays to you all. May you be fed and sheltered and loved and may we all know peace in the coming year.
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