bemyself

Greetings to all, (if I may be so bold) from us few SR in the Southern Hemisphere. And especially, from us even fewer who are beyond latitude-wherever-it-takes-to-be-really-cold, where the solstice really means something in day to day life. Short days, cold etc etc.

The history of winter solstice, as many of you know, is ancient. It speaks of the turning of a year, from darkness to light, from dormancy / even death, to re-growth and re-birth. The meaning is obvious for all of us: whether just coming to sobriety; tentatively approaching its early phases; long into its blessings; or, like me and many of us, travailing back and forth.

Even as I write, some of us will be trying for our first, or our subsequent, work on quitting and staying quit. To be eventually able to see that new life does follow winter. I'll be doing this, by going again to rehab (what I need), literally the day after the winter solstice.

The spring and summer of the heart take a long time to come. That's the hard part. But: this community - and the others you have in your own lives - can gently remind us that, even when the depths of winter feels like a kind of dying...the seasons always change.

Dee74

In the tropics, winter means for me a very comfortable few months. It's my favourite time of the year.

wishing you the best for the rest of 2015 Vic

D

lighter

So, that means tomorrow is the summer solstice for me.

Winter comes.

MythOfSisyphus

Out of curiosity what do you consider 'cold'? For reference it gets down to -35 F occasionally here in the winter and it's normal for it to be around 0 F. It's summer now of course...

mecanix

Hello V ,
Birth and death , the cycle , how many times have i re-invented and re-animated this corpse . the phoenix from the ashes ..

Mex-m8 moves in today and in this last week i've been rationalising and reducing the burden of material goods i've been lugging round with me as well as starting a new job , living in a new house .

I hope you make the re-hab the start of a new cycle for you .

Regards , m

Alaskachick

Glad to hear that you're taking the positive step of entering a rehab program. I really hope it works for you.

As a side note in Alaska we're celebrating summer solstice this weekend. Over 19 hours of daylight today with lots of sunshine and nice warm temperatures!!! My celebration will of course be alcohol free. My friend and I are kayaking out to a large glacier on Portage Lake on Sunday.

PurpleKnight

Just like the seasons change, so we can change ourselves, nature itself can be a great reminder!!

Sending you best wishes for rehab!!

Soberwolf

Happy winter soltice its our summer solstice where i am

Im with D on winter being my favorite time of the year although i dont have the tropic temperatures D & others suffer

Wholesome

Best of luck at rehab Hope you come out the other side able to put your addiction behind you.

Summer solstice here for me as well but we've had so much rain that it has drowned my outdoor flowers..... I say bring on the heat!

bemyself

Good stuff, as ever, from all of you. This tiny thread is one of those which are, I guess, a thought bubble....but just wanted to put it out there, in case the metaphor 'works' for some newcomers or whomsoever.

And, a special shout out to dear mecanix - you were a very special supporter for me, in your own quiet way, way back when. I'm sorry I've been a pretty erratic and frankly, poor correspondent with you, M.
Main thing for now is: I'm chuffed to hear of your new beginnings, in so many ways. I wish you all the very best (and maybe one day, you can share a few tips about that thing of rationalising / reducing the 'stuff' in our lives!).