Now the second major holiday has passed while we all observe the restrictions in our area. The loss of the old ways is perhaps balanced by the blessings of the new ways. While we may never revert to what once was normal, we may bring some of the blessings forward even when restrictions lift.

Our son gifted us with his intention to repair and paint our kitchen ceiling. My brother gifted my folks with his effort to install reflectors on their driveway. I am gifting relics of my life to my most intimate others. On Boxing Day, it is fitting.

What did you appreciate about yesterday? How are you feeling today? Ki to Happiness boxes up the best, lets go of the rest.

After a beautiful Christmas Eve day, I greet you from the quietude of this blessed morning. I wish you all a very happy Christmas. Like the Whos in Dr. Seuses’ Whoville, may we all raise our voices in song around the festive tree, anyway.

Ultimately The Grinch of the Covid is unable to steal Christmas from our hearts. With light as our guide, we freely find the true meaning of this holiday. I am with you in the light of Christ consciousness, which some call Krishna consciousness and others Buddha consciousness. Call it whatever you will, just please call it.

How was your Eve? Did you prepare well for this morning’s quiet? Ki to Happiness wishes you and yours a happy Christmas.

On this day before Christmas, we may pause to reflect on our common ancestors. Adam and Eve are remembered today, although they are called other names in other traditions.

In Bali, Prajapati has a small alter in every temple. Without those who came first, there would be no second, no next, no Christmas. The mystery of our origins we bow to, with love and gratitude for the souls evolving experiment in matter.

Can you love this mysterious life? How’s the experiment going? Ki to Happiness gratefully embraces this chance to evolve.

In the Celtic tradition from which I descend, this is a day of limitless potential. Without attributes, or trees, or Deities associated, it is wide open.

Taking a pause from holiday preparation, I reflect on what I am most wish to manifest. Symbolically, I will infuse a creative effort with my heartfelt desires. You already know what they are… Peace on earth, as we ground the new Aquarian energy heralded by the Great Conjunction.

What would you most like to manifest? How can you creatively symbolize that today? Ki to Happiness will mix it into the Christmas Pudding.

During yesterday’s magical solstice with the “great conjunction” we had terrible rain and cold icy wind blowing. Winter arrived. Exactly on time for its first day.

At sunset, temperatures began to drop. I thought I saw a few flakes mixed in to the precipitation. Soon enough, the whole sky turned into the inner realm of a snow globe. The cats and I stood transfixed by the beauty of nature.

How was your solstice? What was your experience of the “great conjunction”? Ki to Happiness welcomes winter.

I greet you here just as the sun has shifted into Capricorn. This indicates the beginning return of the light to the northern hemisphere. We have made it through the darkest night. That is truly saying some thing after this year.

I took a nice long dark walk, enjoying the little light that was able to make it through all the clouds and the trees, deep in the nearby woods. The light within was much brighter than the light without.

How will you celebrate this solstice? When the light returns, what will you bring forward from this time of darkness? Ki to Happiness shines the inner light outward.

At 5:02 AM tomorrow on the west coast, we shift into winter. The moment of solstice will occur while we are still in the dark of night. From that moment onward, the sun begins its return for the next six months.

I had a nice visit on the phone with my mom yesterday. I loved teaching classes after practices. With Jai back from Bali, we enjoyed a fun and silly movie together here at home with his dad, all 3 of us on the big futon with 3 cats checking us out. Positive vibrations in these relationships light up the darkness.

What lights up your darkness? How will you welcome the returning sun? Ki to Happiness chooses to see the delights of family, friends, coworkers, practices and pets.

With Jai back, we were able to herd the cats and take a family photo for the holidays. Doing so required flexibility in the schedule, timing of the exact moment, and feline cooperation. Also, a photographer showed up at the moment so no selfie stick needed.

It is one of our few family rituals. Magical look back on all the years together, and witness the growth, transformation and evolution. The four legged as well as the two legged.

What holiday rituals are you able to continue? Which ones are you letting go of?Ki to Happiness wishes you and your family a Happy Holiday season.

During these dark days, it’s essential for me to get out into nature. Spending a little time each day exposed to the elements uplifts my spirit. It’s also great for my body, mind, and emotions. Sometimes the darkness, the wind, and cold deter me.

Yesterday, I saw a sun break and went out for it. Along the way to the woods 10 blocks away, it started drizzling. I saw bands of darkness. The rain became heavier. I walked faster. As I was returning home, I saw people looking behind me up into the air. I was amazed to see a huge circular double rainbow appearing right over where I had just been deluged.

Are you getting enough time outside in nature? Did you see that magnificent double rainbow? Ki to Happiness looks up!

The most beloved poet died on this day in 1273. It is called his “wedding day” as he believed he would be reunited with his beloved Shams who died in 1248.

Rumi has inspired many though these centuries to love and live fully. His love for Shams wrote 70,000 verses, as his scribe recorded his outpouring. Here follows one of my favorites.

That Lives in Us

If you put your hands on this ore with me, they will never harm another and they will come to find they hold everything you want.

If you put your hands on this ore with me, it would no longer lift anything to your mouth that might wound your precious land-That sacred earth that is your body.

If you put your soul against this oar with me, the power that made the universe will enter your sinew from a source not outside your limbs, but from the holy realm that lives in us.

Exuberant is existence, time a husk. When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space; love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

Why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and future? The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities will find no rest.

Be kind to yourself, dear-to our innocent follies. Forget any sound or touch you knew that did not help you dance. You will come to see that all evolves us.

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving every creature, our beloved will enter you from our secret realm and we will be, we will be so happy.

Will you put your hands on this oar with me? How will you celebrate Rumi’s wedding day? Ki to Happiness has her hands on this oar.