Winter Solstice
"A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness." — Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
Some time ago, I had a falling out with a friend. We had irreconcilable differences and eventually decided to part ways. We drifted apart soon after, and eventually, a finality that required no resolution.
A few months ago, I was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, absorbed in a client deck, and my friends happened to discussed the aftermath of the incident over dinner two years on. They turned to me in concern and asked, “It has been exactly two years already, how do you feel about it?” In the midst of work, I looked up nonchalantly and responded,
“Oh, it has been two years already? How time flies.”
I then went back to my work.
Yesterday marked the Winter Solstice — the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It signifies the arrival of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is also a turning point. It also represents the gradual return of daylight, and with it, a new cycle of life, hope and unity. This is especially so in earlier agrarian civilisations, where survival is measured by the seasons, the light, and the dark. However, there is an important message within that I like very much: the solstice does not celebrate a raucous victory over darkness or winter, but a quiet sacred truth of nature that light always returns when darkness peaks.
PS: I had jiaozi for Winter Solstice.
