Freshness. That is what this essence is offering us as we enter the winter season. The picture that comes to me as I sit with these essences is an invitation to go to our rooms and play! Let’s imagine that we each have a great bedroom all to ourselves, full of our favourite toys. We have a rich and fun group of imaginary friends to play with, and we have all the space and time we need to play ourselves out—to play until we are fully satisfied. 

Goofing around in your bedroom may seem foolish advice for these days, considering the serious conditions facing us right now. But it is not at all silly. In fact, here is the wisdom of this essence's message.

The secret, most powerful ingredient we can tap into right now is joy.

Joy is an atmosphere we need to cultivate. Joy is a pair of glasses we need to wear. Joy needs to come out of our hearts, our mouths, and our hands.

The highest expression of self-esteem is joy.

Sometimes I think that joy is the signature gift we humans, as a species, offer to the rest of creation. Joy is that important. One irreducible quality of joy is its expansiveness. Joy cannot be contained in the boundaries of your felt body. It reaches out to the living world contained in and beyond you. It forms a web that ties us all together. I think it even moves goods and services!

A joyful wind can carry most anything: encouragement, gratitude, kindness, new ideas, rest, even the heaviness of sorrow takes an occasional ride on the wings of joy.

Any strong outward traveling emotion can imitate the speed with which joy moves through the world. But none can match the creative nugget that joy is made of—the desire to celebrate and create Life. Why would we want to form a web of anger or fear or possessiveness when joy is what really allows us to take part in the abundance of life?

How to take this essence:

First method: take the essence as you welcome joy in your life as teacher, protector, and guide.

Second method: recall times from your childhood where you experienced joy. Then take the essence. This will help you to recall in your body your unique relationship with joy.

Third method: take when you are feeling life closing in on you. Ask joy for help to break out of this isolation.

Sounds sad to say that joy is something we must work hard at, but I think we do right now. The more destructive types of outward traveling emotions—like anger, fear, and possessiveness—are hard to dislodge, particularly because they gain strength as they circulate among us. Cultivating personal joy is not a folly—it makes all the difference in the world.

Wishing you deep joy this winter,

Read the 2021 Winter Solstice definition and interpretation here.

Painting: Red Boat with Blue Sails, Odilon Redon,1907