Collectively Bringing Light This Holiday Season
My eight-year-old daughter shared a concept that has resonated with me this holiday season. "Mama, why do people say that winter is filled with darker days when the days actually get longer starting on the winter solstice?" I've always equated December 21st as the longest night of the year and the winter season kickoff of cold and darkness. In actuality, December 21st is the beginning of the nights getting shorter and a pathway to the spring equinox.
In reflecting on my daughter's question, I realized that I had a bias against winter for the wrong reasons. I am uncomfortable when I am cold, and I dread starting and ending my work day when it is dark outside. These feelings of uncomfortableness linked my association to the winter solstice with a negative significance. I assumed that because the winter solstice has the shortest day of the year, winter is dark and therefore colder. In fact, it is a turning point for the days to become longer. This is an example of how assumptions are a means for our brains to take shortcuts to make connections, and these short cuts can lead to misinformed biases. My assumptions blinded me to miss the meaning behind celebrating the winter. While I can still complain about the cold and the snow, I have a new perspective of hope that the days are getting longer and warmer.
I believe that there is a reason the holidays at the end of the calendar year have a focus on light. The holiday season is the gift of light in a world of darkness—Diwali's festival of lights, Hanukkah's eight days of light, Christmas' star of Bethlehem, Kwanzaa's seven principle candles, and New Year's fireworks. Despite the differences of faith and how the light is brought into our lives, the impact of the light unites us. The winter solstice is no different—it is the start of our days becoming brighter. Light brings warmth, illumination, and energy. More importantly, it brings us hope.
After the year 2020, I welcome all of the light into our dark world. May we find healing, growth, and renewed compassion for one another. May we lower our assumptions, reflect on our biases, and work towards building an inclusive society that is bright and just. I have hope that we will find our light in different ways, and collectively we will brighten the world together. Happy Diwali! Hanukkah Sameach! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!
