Wintertime is almost upon us, my friends! It just dawned on me... There are so many HUGE reasons I adore this season.

The tree branches are undressed, and we see things that we haven't seen in a long while. I love the new nests that have been built in the past year. I love how the leafless branches reveal, like curtains part before a show, a clear view of the twinkling stars. There is just something about winter that sings to my soul, tells it to slow down and take in everything that is before me. A pleasant, heartfelt reminder that winter is finally here, and the magic show commences...

If winter were a tree, I would hug it. I welcome it with open arms! It evokes so many things that charm my core, and make my mug runneth over. Yes, my mug of winter solstice tea is poured to the brim, and being a clumsy soul, I almost almost always make it overflow. But you know what? I don't care. I'd rather dry tea than tears.

As you can read about in my soon-to-be-released memoir (Room in the Heart; Surviving a Childhood Undone, Fulfilling a Pact to Love) I spent one-too-many winters waiting. Waiting to truly feel a sense of joy. Like holding a gingerbread cookie still secured in its plastic wrapping, I could see life before me, but could neither smell nor taste it. Since childhood I've loved the concept of gingerbread cottages. Now I was trapped in gingerbread cottage basement. In the floors above, I could hear my husband and 5 lively children play, laugh and sing. I was numb. My soul felt frostbitten.

Those years of "living in the basement," although heinously sad, were never regained. Reclaimed, now that's a different story. I'd rather call it a fairytale come true. Enter Marilyn, the therapist who talked me down (literally) from the ledge,who told me this: "You cannot jump! There is nowhere to go, because you are already at the bottom." Those words talked me into backing off our balcony ledge, and walking away from the pain that gripped and strangled my soul like a python. I realized that no one else reserved the right to be a mother to our children but me. I became hell-bent on finding and healing the child within me, while simultaneously giving a wonderful childhood to my children, as well. Therapy, years of therapy, helped me to build a strong gingerbread house, frost it, and even decorate it with the sweetest candy there is.

So...what does this all have to do with the magic of winter? Inasmuch as we do not choose our pain, we do not have the choice to make snow fall from the sky. We can, however, realize that although we are not able to undo our past, we ARE responsible for the present and future. We can stay inside and watch the snow fall (which isn't a bad option!) or we can go outside and take in the chilly scent of snow, and really see the glorious glitter, that like upon the top of a cupcake, has frosted the landscape. Like a child, let us feel the gloriousness of all this season has to offer.

So, as you are reading this, even if it doesn't snow where you are, I hope that you can at least take in the joy of this season, and open your heart. Open it wide. Pour the entire teapot until your mug overflows! Mop it up with a gusto that proves you are alive! Let it fill with today, and all you DO have. We do have today. You can choose to claim it, and make it all it can be, with all that you have to work with.

Paint your own canvas. Choose your brush and your colors without a second thought! Don't be afraid; happiness and contentment look different for each of us. And so, I wish you a wonderful day, and a heart that finds a fulness in the small things. Those are the things that matter most...