It is supposed to be the time of spareness…bare branches…frost and ice…but we are drenched in greens and browns…lush leafiness…tiny flowers springing up…
 …especially strange as we encounter the usual Advent and Christmas poetry and symbolis…of the evergreens to remind us life in the midst of winter, etc, etc….but we are just going with flow…with whatever presents itself to us.
We planted more bulbs in the hedgerow yesterday afternoon, our arms bared to the warm sunshine. I discovered it is much easier to do with a strong man wielding the digger and me simply tucking the small papery rounds into the dark soil, with warm kisses for a benediction when we were done…
…grateful for these peaceful, unusual, earthy Advent days…
For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O’Donohue ~