Solstice Shadows     and      Buried  Buddha  2021   Calgary   AB

The end of December – already – again! Solstice has come and gone – Christmas is finito and a new year is upon us – a new year! another one – big sigh!
I don’t know about you but it doesn’t really feel like a ‘new’ year to me, it just feels like more of the same, fear and uncertainty, endless restrictions, not very conducive to celebration sadly

There are many words one could use to describe 2021, but remarkable keeps coming up when I reflect back – definitely another stand out year, another one that will not be easily forgotten, on so many levels, in so many ways.

Of the many things I still see happening all around me, is everyone looking for balance, for equilibrium, for new footing in a world being created anew – I see us continuing to go through a complete re – imagining of everything, fundamentally re-evaluating what we’re doing with our lives, what we’re living for, where and how we are living, who we’re living with, what we can no longer tolerate, what we want change, what we want to experience – BIG stuff – monumental really.

COVID has certainly given us pause, paved the way, cleared space in our lives for us to dive deep into these questions, to shed the skin, the cocoon, the shell – the no longer necessary, the toxic, the falsities and those that perpetrate them, basically  eliminating the soul sucking aspects of our lives. In many ways it has been brutal, unforgiving, seemingly relentless. We are weary.

One of the practices that has helped me to navigate these questions as well as having kept me sane during this entire ordeal, is waking up every morning at 6a for the last 94 weeks – 21 months, logging into ‘call to calm’ meditations and monologues with Panache Desai. Every morning he reminds us of what’s real and what’s important, remaining calm in the midst of anything. This daily practice, of returning to a peaceful state of being and maintaining residency there no matter the mayhem going on, has been so helpful to me in the face of the challenges of the last 656 days.

What has kept you from succumbing to the dark side during these seemingly dark days? What has been your greatest challenge? Biggest fear? Aha moment? What do you know now that you didn’t know before? What has come to ‘light”? How has it altered your life? Your internal landscape? How can it help you going forward?

There is so much more to say about 2021, and even more to speculate about for 2022 – future blogs.
Until then here’s to 2022 and all the surprises it’s likely to bring.
Adieu 2021 and everything we learned from you this last year.
May it help us to navigate the uncertainty that undoubtedly continues to lie ahead for us, from a place of peace and perspective, love and compassion.

I have an ear worm going on in my head as I finish writing this, a Beatles song…
An eternal message appropriate for the season of light and love.

‘All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love,love
Love is all you really need…. ’

As always thanks for showing up and showing interest. The best of everything always, in all ways

Peace, peace and more peace

Louise
Okori
December 2021