Christmas is arriving soon, with the advent period about half way over. My father always called these times the darkest times of the year. And the days are dark, it’s dark when I go to work, and again when I come home. There are times that I feel I am living in a cave.

End of the year is for me personally a time for reflection. In the cold weather I prefer to sit at home with a hot cup of tea, a blanket and of course our cat on the lap. And that leads to reflection of what I have been doing in the past year and what I like to do next year.

As every year this year also had it’s ups and downs, including a lot of plans to visit family members that were not realized. So hopefully that can be done next year. Seeing all the terrible news on the television just makes me feel grateful, of my home, my work and my family. It’s impossible to ignore all terrible things, instead I focus on trying to stay positive. And look for inspiration in poetry, like the one under from Rumi about life & death. So I hope every one who reads this is also inspired.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!

============================================================================

look at love
how it tangles
with the one fallen in love

look at spirit
how it fuses with earth
giving it new life

why are you so busy
with this or that or good or bad
pay attention to how things blend

why talk about all
the known and the unknown
see how the unknown merges into the known

why think separately
of this life and the next
when one is born from the last

look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb
the other speaks in words and signs

look at water and fire
earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once

the wolf and the lamb
the lion and the deer
far away yet together

look at the unity of this
spring and winter
manifested in the equinox

you too must mingle my friends
since the earth and the sky
are mingled just for you and me

be like sugarcane
sweet yet silent
don’t get mixed up with bitter words

my beloved grows
right out of my own heart
how much more union can there be