My apartment gets a lot of morning sun this time of year. I sometimes feel like a plant, sitting on my couch, letting the sun light and warm me each day. My cat often places herself just so, half in half out of the sun, as if making sure she gets the exact right amount of sunshine.
This time of year in the Northern hemisphere, we are often moving around more in darkness. It can be hard to remember the sun is still there. But soon, we will begin moving in the other direction, gaining a few more minutes of sunshine each day.
The lights folks put up and out, that we all reflexively turn on all provide brightness and light, but sunshine still feels a little different.
Of course the seasons shift, and the instinct to hole up, sleep and eat a little more, to be cozy, is for the most part good. Seasons exist, and they can remind us that there are changes, shifts in the rhythms of the planet, and that wishing to make changes in our own activity can make sense. Most flowers bloom for only part of the year. Hibernation, resting, or just reaching out to loved ones, are all things that can help us become the people who are ready to face the next year or the next season.
And it can be a nice reminder that just as the waves of the ocean shift back, that eventually the sun will hang out with our hemisphere a little more too.