Renewal

I’ve been hibernating this winter…..more than any other winter that I can remember. The snow and cold that crossed the country kept us housebound for a few days so I’ve felt a little like a bear (except I don’t think they eat during hibernation).

Even though bears have been extinct in Ireland for a thousand years, I remember a cave I visited there that had a formation of a “nest” where the bears hibernated. It was a wonderful symbol of the cycles of life – a reminder that going into the dark to rest, renew and refresh can be a good thing.

There’s a part of me that feels drawn to the dark and another part that resists it. There is just a little spark of excitement at the possibility of this being a lovely time and a little wondering if I’m going to miss something that’s going on outside. I usually end up discovering that this time of hibernation has done its work of restoration.

I value both the inner and outer times – they help me maintain the balance in my life and I like the freedom of knowing I can live with the tension of “holding” both worlds.

We all have different reasons and ways of entering the dark. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a guide....poetry has been one of mine. Robert Bly translated this one of Rainer Maria Rilke.

SUNSET

Slowly the west reaches for clothes of new colors
which it passes to a row of ancient trees.
You look, and soon these two worlds both leave you,
one part climbs toward heaven, one sinks to earth,

leaving you, not really belonging to either,
not so hopelessly dark as that house that is silent,
not so unswervingly given to the eternal as that thing
that turns to a star each night and climbs –

leaving you (it is impossible to untangle the threads)
your own life, timid and standing high and growing,
so that, sometimes blocked in, sometimes reaching out,
one moment your life is a stone in you, and the next, a star.

Rainer Maria Rilke

What has this winter been like for you? Have you hibernated?
Who are the guides for your journey? Who offers support for you as you seek
to know yourself better?