Cycles and turnings

It is the solstice. 

In my world that means the longest day, the sun cresting the horizon at 4.45 AM. Usually, it is also high summer, where heat is seen in the air. Not this year, the air is still blessedly fresh.

Once upon a time I feared change, the speed of life, the pace of disappearance of youthfulness, the reflection in the mirror startling me more often than not.

I feel more alive, more an inhabitant in my skin than ever before. I know fearlessness. It is a delicious release from the anxiety of what people might think.

I am sure I am not the first person to know the irony of age. More self-expression than ever, yet also so often invisible to the younger world. I would not replace my face with a younger one in trade for the comfort I feel in the world.

I love the solstice. The turning of the seasons. It is both a moment of peak and movement towards the unknown. 

Photo taken December 21st 2022