advent calendar 2021

Kind of like summer, December has its own rules. And both sets of rules are determined by the sun.

In the summer, we bask in the long days and warm temperatures. We look for activities that take us outside with other people, celebrating the ripe richness of the year. But in the winter, we retreat inside—literally and figuratively. The dark and cold tell us to slow down, burrow in, hibernate. It is a time to prepare.

According to Caroline Myss, we have celebrated the winter’s darkness “since the beginning of forever.” And the ritual of Advent reminds us that the light will return. At Advent, we participate “in this ritual of one candle after another increasing the light as we move into the darkest day of the year—the winter solstice. Once all the candles are lit, a transformation happens” (Myss). The light comes back to the world in the form of slowly lengthening days and, of course, Christ.

I was confirmed in the Catholic church as an adult and took the name Lucy as my confirmation name. St. Lucia/St. Lucy is the “bringer of light” and celebrates her saint’s day on December 13, the traditional date of the solstice and also the night, in Scandinavian tradition, on which the terrible demon, Lussi, visits homes to make sure the work being done in preparation for Christmas is on track.

Light needs the dark to be seen and dark readies us for light.

I have been working with ideas of seasonality and cycles—releasing in my physical space, my physical body, and in my professional life for a while now. And, in the dark of this year, I feel a slow illumination of what I want to receive.

So, if you are interested, I’m going to do that thing I always do in the darkness: I’m going to write through it. And for Advent, I will open up a dark door every day and hope to find a little light.