Summer Solstice 2020

Whenever I travel, I sleep sparingly and often awake well before sunrise. Even if I did so at home, the house faces south and has very little view of the sky from either end. The photo associated to this post is one of many I took when I stumbled upon the perfect opportunity; a hotel room with an east-facing view of the ocean.

I awoke my first morning there, tired and nervous about the day ahead so I pulled out my yoga travel mat and started moving to both energize and redirect my focus. As I practiced, I noticed the dark beginning to give way and allow the light to break apart its depths. Upon finishing a brief meditation, I saw the dark blues and purples had already started to change the blackness to something of promise. Only then did it occur to me that I was about to witness sunrise.

I quickly made tea and turned a chair towards the balcony window to take in the spectacle; the colours slowly melded into each other then appeared as something even more beautiful until eventually, the sun was a ball of gleaming yellow-gold over the water. And so, I repeated this practice every day of my trip.

As I reflect on the 2020 summer solstice arriving just as every sunrise, whether we take notice or not, I cannot help but consider what it all means amidst a climate crisis, mass illness and loss of life, calls for justice and an end to racism, and the utter upheaval for those experiencing job/small business loss leaving them to face the realities of poverty. Is it not often at our most desperate time we find the greatest of opportunity? Though typically impossible to see in the moment, when we reflect on it with the clarity of hindsight - the calm that settles all around after a bitter storm - we begin to recognize a familiar friend, Opportunity.

So, what start could be made as the solstice begins? There is no need for it to be an overhaul of one’s entire way of being. In my experience, it is often the small, seemingly insignificant things that have the greatest impact. The answer doesn’t need to be clear just yet however, by putting an idea in motion, it may be surprising what results.