PIECES OF HOME // WINTER SOLSTICE

A little recap of the past few days.  The night before 12.21.12 I went out on a date with my bestie to the wine bar.  We had a nice time and chatted alot about food (she is pregnant).  Ha ha.  She also gave me that batch of goodness above!  Some whiskey, stones, chocolate and soap... the girl knows me well.  Then I came home and gave Bella pillow rides. 

On 12.21.12, James and I went to a friends house out in tarpley for a winter solstice gathering.  I brought with me an earth offering for exchange, along with said whiskey from above.  And I wore my cowboy boots that were gifted to me for the first time!  You cant tell from the photo, but they are old and worn, and the bottom part is snakeskin.  I love it, the skin is all peeling off.  I have lived in the cowboy capital of the world all my life, and have never worn cowboy boots (minus a short period when I was about 8).  But these ones, I can get into!  I probably never would of tried them without them being gifted to me.  

The gathering was wonderful.  Her home was filled with beautiful, warm souls.  Soon after we got there, we all went outside, were smuged and blessed, and gathered around her medicine wheel with instruments in hand, and had a shaman led ceremony honoring the earth and the winter solstice, filled with singing, drumming, and learning.  It was beautiful.  The half moon was out and you could see every star in the sky out there.  Then we all went in and enjoyed food, drinks and anonymous gift exchanges.  I got plant seeds!!!  They came directly from the persons garden, Im super excited. 

The next day, on 12.22.12, I was completely wiped out.  I napped almost all day long, and so did violet, as you can see.  We spent most of the day in bed together.  I managed to get up for a little while and make some batches of homeade bath salts.  Then straight back to bed. 

Yesterday morning, I went to yoga class in kerrville with my friend, and got to listen to my instructor talk about the world and our mind body connections to spirit.  It was beautiful and right in line with my most inner thoughts.  He usually is... 

And I just had to share this pic of Bella b/c its so darn cute.  I caught her getting up in the plants I brought indoors.  Little rascal.

I hope everyone has a merry christmas!  Be safe and spread love.

 

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Releasing our fears >>>

Last night we built our first fire in our house in honor of the winter solstice.  It was soooooo nice, and I soaked in the feeling of glowing red cheeks and the wonderful aroma of wood burning.  There is not much quite like it.  We used to make great bonfires at my parents house and I always loved the feeling of standing around a fire next to people you love, just watching the flames roar.  Our first little fire was not quite as monumental, but special for sure.  We had to make about 6 trips outside to gather more semi-dry twigs and it felt like a little mini adventure each time.  It reminded me of the days when I was growing up and my parents just had a wood burning stove, it was one of the super cool old free standing cast iron clawfoot kind, beautiful.  But not so pretty when your a kid and you dont want to gather firewood or only sit in one spot in the house to be warm.  

I kicked back for a while and attempted to read, but was more enamored with watching the fire.  Im using an adorable hand knitted bookmark gifted to me by a sweet friend.

Last night was so very special b/c James and I celebrated the winter solstice together for the first time.  Lately I have really been looking more within thank I already usually do, and keep finding myself landing in all of these places, through books, through blogs, through conversations with good friends, that are taking me on this new journey of openess and healing.  Ive gone through this kind of point in my life several times before, call it a growth spurt, an emotional and spiritual growth spurt.  There are usually alot of growing pains associated with growth spurts.  Alot of coming into a new version of yourself that is new to you, but one that you could not refuse to enter into, like going from a child to an adolescent.  It just kind of happens as the wind blows and you cant stop it.  I touched a little on some of the things moving in my soul in my cosmic shifts post.  One soft spot I landed on was Pixie Campbell's blog Pink Coyote.  I was telling James that I was going to do my own little releasing ceremony by the fire and he wanted to join me!  I was so excited and greatly surprised.  So last night after the fire burned for a while, and we ate some leftover pizza by the fire...  we took some time to write down some things we would like to release from ourselves.  Old habits, fears, things blocking us from moving in the directions we know we want to be in, old friends, things that no longer serve us.  Then one by one, we shared the things we wanted to release to each other.  This was the really healing moment.  I was very impresses with the things James shared.  Then we wrapped them all up in the little bundles and burned them in the fire.  It was such a beautiful moment, and one Ill never forget.  I hope to continue this each year with him, and maybe with a gathering of our friends. 

I love the list that Pixie made on her blog of things we can change:

Fear into Courage

Not Enoughness into Plenty                   

Old patterns of behavior into fresh responses and vulnerability           

Anger into Cleansing Breath

Sorrow into Hope

Grief into Rebirth

Loneliness into Circle and Support

Disempowerment into Confident Action

Creative Dormancy into Full Expression

Superficiality into True Being

Masks into Love of What Really Is

Shortsightedness into Eagle's Vision

Limitations into Possibility

Projections into Conscious Ownership

Stuckness into Movement

Depression into Light

Bondage into Freedom

Control into a Loose, Flexible Grasp

Obsession into Letting It Be

Anxiety into Flow

Fragmentations into Wholeness

Duality into Oneness

Shame into Acceptance of the Processes of Life

Mistrust into Trust

Judgment into Allowing

Did anyone else join in this time of celebration?  If so Id love to hear how. 

Oh, I joined Instagram (I got my first ipod) so if you want to join me its under lauramazurek.  Im not quite sure how it all works...

PEACE,

Laura