The Longest Day

This week we will experience the Summer Solstice, the day with the longest number of daylight hours. Today as I write this we have almost 15 hours of daylight with first light just after 5 am and last light trailing 9 pm. How will you mark this natural occurrence which on this year also coincides with the full moon?

One thing I notice as we approach the solstice is the quality of light in the earliest and latest hours. These times have a speculative quality–a tentativeness as if we aren’t quite sure about the level of excess. I remember this same quality of light from my one trip to Alaska during the summer when, because of its proximity to the North pole, the summer days were virtually endless. While it was light, it was light in a different way–perhaps a little less sure of its light, or so it seemed.

These last long days–for we will begin to wane on the other side of the Solstice–invite us to savor what we now enjoy. This quality is one of spaciousness and a promise that more is possible. A quantity of spaciousness we may not feel in a couple weeks as the political convention season picks up. A quantity of spaciousness many in the world are not feeling as they deal with the impacts of war and climate change. The fact that its days are literally numbered means we should take some time to mark and enjoy this abundance.

We would wish abundance to be everlasting–and yet experience teaches us that it is not. We would wish it to be available to all and as we continue to work towards that, we can also appreciate when we are touched by it. Regardless of what else touches you this week–I hope you take a minute or two for the pre-solstice sun to light your day.