What Winter Solstice Means to Me

By: Tatum Freigang

The shortest daylight period of the year is fast approaching. On December 21st, us folks in the Northern Hemisphere will experience Winter Solstice. Many traditions around the world both new and ancient have observed and celebrated this period of the year. From Ancient Romans during Saturnalia to the ancient Norsemen of Scandinavia celebrating Yule, or the Inca empire’s Sun Festival (History.com Editors). However you may celebrate, I have warmly embraced this time to create my own rituals.

I used to think of the dark as “bad.” I would dread winter, counting down the days until summer arrived once again. However, I’ve thankfully come to appreciate the quietness that winter brings. Its veil is a physical reminder to stop and breathe and to listen to the silence. Instead of dreading half the year, I now welcome winter as a time to slow down. To spend more time on art projects, learning new skills, and on personal growth. I like to create a tradition around the Solstice and do so in three ways: reflection, goal setting and celebration.

Reflecting on the Year

I love to journal my thoughts. It’s often a freeform style of writing, full of rabbit holes sliding down the channels of my brain. However, Winter Solstice provides an ample opportunity to be more intentional with my entries and to use the occasion to reflect on the past year. In the hustle of our everyday lives, it can be difficult to stop and appreciate what has occurred in our lives. What challenges and adventures we embarked on. Setting intentional time to reflect and pay gratitude for this wonderful life gives me feelings of nostalgia, joy, and pride for all that has occurred. Some journal prompts I use include:

What did I learn about myself?

What did I try that was new? How did it feel?

What was a memorable event?

Setting New Goals

The shortest day means that longer days are to come. Like a seed planted, our goals take time to realize and setting them on this day provides an opportunity to sync up with the cycles of nature. Before thinking of new goals, I take time to look back on my goals and journal entries from last Winter Solstice. Which ones came to fruition? Am I where I wanted to be? If yes, what helped me get there? If not, how could I keep moving forward? When I set new goals, I enjoy seeing them grow with the lengthening of daylight. Goal setting, vision boarding and manifesting my dreams has become a huge part of my life. I’ve enjoyed the ability to have something to look forward to and work towards.

Rituals and Celebration

The Winter Solstice gives me hope, knowing I can handle what life throws at me. I feel proud and grateful for having made it to the end of the year. Last year, my friends and I did a ceremony to honour the day, acknowledge an end and celebrate a new beginning. We wrote down something we wanted to get rid of – maybe that’s self-doubt, perfectionism or worry and we put them into a tin can. We then set the papers in the can on fire and watched what we wanted to get rid of physically disintegrate. The items that were holding us down were released to the universe, no longer ours to carry. We then shared something we wanted to bring into our lives – maybe that’s new love, more time with family, or new hobbies. By sharing what we wanted to bring in, we vocalized to the Universe and to each other what we wanted to attract. Regardless of our individual beliefs, if nothing else, it was a memorable and fun activity with friends. Plus it allowed us to share our feelings and connect more deeply to one another–which I believe to be the most important part of life.

Tatum Freigang is the Treasurer for CaNOE and a climate change adaptation specialist working on coastal climate change programming with the federal government. Tatum has been involved with CaNOE since 2021 and loves biking, salsa dancing and reading in her spare time.