Winter solstice 2024
Bell and I were invited to two solstice gatherings (one was cancelled because of the rain). M. texted me happy solstice, as did the person who'd organized the solstice gathering that got cancelled. At the solstice potluck we went to, a different M. arrived with printed out collages for everyone with a poem they'd written, on a typewriter, to mark Winter Solstice 2024. (They probably lower cased it.) The person who hosted the solstice potluck wrote an annual solstice letter that they circulated via a private-ish Google Site.
At the solstice potluck, in a beautiful home and also outside by a fire, we ate food, and played a connective questions game. There was an "intentions station" set up where we could write intentions on bits of paper and then burn them in the fire. I misgendered someone's dog as he, when they were clearly gendering it they.
I've spent a lot of time saying no to a bunch of rituals, traditions, social norms. I've learned that it's important to also find things to say yes to. Ditto with eating a plant-based diet. Did you know that, to this day, McDonalds sells a veggie burger that is literally all the burger ingredients, minus the patty, without any sort of replacement patty? Eating plant-based is like this, and so is ritual.
Thanks to everyone who helped me see that solstice is something I'd like to say yes to.