Going Within
‘Tis the season to be jolly! Remember that song that had part of it as Fa la la la la, la la, la la? My dear friend just received a t-shirt from my niece that had “Fa (La)8 “ printed on the front (“La” was in scientific notation, “La” to the 8th power!). Taking a moment, I thought how appropriate that is, as he is an engineering genius and appreciated the humor!
Giving the gift gave as much pleasure to my niece to give the shirt as it did my friend to receive it. Balance. This time of year is when we celebrate the holidays, marked by the Winter Solstice (December 21 this year, when the sun in the northern hemisphere is southernmost point of least daylight hours).
It is a time of going within: we are attuned to the seasons biologically, through that has been muddied a bit with the advent of technology, artificial light and absence of being more in natural settings.
Going within allows us a sense of achieving balance by letting go. It is a metaphor for the completion of the harvests, leaves falling, less daylight, and cooler temperatures. It is you and I, divesting what may have served us but is no longer needed nor useful. It is a time not just for inventory and focusing on the inner qualities.
This going within affirms balance by preparing to receive the new light (as after December 21 daylight is getting longer), the new day, and we celebrate this with the warmth of love family, friends and living in concert with nature and its seasons.
As my dear friend was open to receive a gift, it created balance. In fact, sometimes the greatest gift you can give to another is to allow them to give to you; to receive the gift with the love as it was given. Why is this important? It requires us to be vulnerable to receive, as it is to give.
You who have fallen in love are familiar with this feeling of vulnerability. To be vulnerable to receive love is also being vulnerable to your true inner power, and externalizes that inner balance in many forms, including equanimity.
Though this holiday season is often thought of as the season of giving, it is also the season of allowing yourself to receive a part of the beneficence that you offer to others. That is equanimity: balance. Going within allows you to let go of any illusion that you are not already whole and complete. It offers you the ability to f by being vulnerable, to view your true self and to acknowledge your own inner sweetness.
This has nothing to do with self-love in a selfish manner, just love of self in the most harmless, self-affirming way. Contemplate on going within, what it means to you to be still and quiet as a winter’s night. Going within towards the more quiet you access in the center of your being, the more you hear.
Blessings,
Dr. Richard Jelusich, Ph.D.
