Ep 74 Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice is a time to relish the abundance of light, beauty, and life, soaking it all in with great joy. Today we talk about accepting the invitations that come at this time of year, to take a more leisurely pace, shift our schedules, and celebrate by paying attention to the things that allow us to see that goodness and hope are available to us. Everywhere we look, life is radiating! Join us as we take a contemplative moment to bask in the wonder and awe of it all.   

Additional Resources
Podcast: Ep 48 Lessons from the Winter Solstice  

#Light
#Summer
#Nature
#Eco-Spirituality 

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Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

summer solstice, summer, light, 

Dominic Kaiser  00:06

Welcome to The Contemplative Life: Three pastors, friends and spiritual companions help us explore spirituality through a contemplative lens.

I'm Christina Roberts.
I'm Chris Roberts.
I'm Kristina Kaiser. We're glad you joined us. 

Christina Roberts  00:23

Hello, it's great to be with you. Well, when this episode airs, it will be summer solstice 2022. So we thought we would take some time to talk about lessons from the summer solstice. And we did a similar thing back in episode 48. We talked about lessons from the winter solstice. And I think it's interesting to pay attention to these times in our year where there's a shift happening on the Earth's axis and our seasonal shift. With the winter solstice episode, I think we talked a lot about kinds of darkness and those types of wintering months. Now summer solstice, at least in our hemisphere, being the lighter days in summer. So I'd love to kick off the conversation today. And what are some things that strike us about the summer solstice that we'd like to dialogue about?

Kristina Kaiser  01:07

I had to do a little research in order to talk about Solstice because I did not grow up with them. But I am aware that for a lot of people it's part of their traditions and rituals and celebrations and stuff. So one place that I was reading, they said in earlier times, the summer solstice marked the beginning of the season that contains the utmost bounty, abundance and beauty. And our ancestors spent the entirety of spring cultivating the land and restocking themselves with food, which makes sense.  The planting season. So by the time the summer solstice took place, they were finally able to rest and relish a period of comfortable ease, which also makes sense before the harvest. And so I read that I thought, Oh, sure. We come to this point. And my husband and I have been talking because last year, we worked really hard in the summer getting things together. And I said this year, no. Mowing the lawn is fine but I want things set. I want to be able to sit down and listen to the birds and feel the breeze and enjoy the actual experience of summer, not just work because it's the warm months. So it's not planting in the same way as these ancestors, perhaps, but I feel it.  I'm ready for the bounty and abundance and beauty.

Chris Roberts  02:25

Yeah, I think one of the things that I find evident in what we're talking about is just the connectedness to nature. And personally, I feel in my childhood growing up, there was a disconnect to things like Solstice.  It wasn't a part of things that we paid attention to. Neither was paying attention to how much light on a given day. And we would say, oh, it's fall forward/ spring backwards, or I don't know if I have those mixed up. But we did pay attention to things like that. But I find whenever we bring up this idea of summer solstice and connectedness to the earth, a connectedness to light that I've not had in my life previous to this. And so one of the things that I really have appreciated about as we're approaching summer solstice, it is getting lighter, much earlier. And one of the things that I've been paying attention to is a word my neighbor used: cacophony. Talking about the birds and their singing, I found it to be beautiful, like they're just communicating to one another, and the insects that are out. And so I find that I am being more aware of the Earth, I'm being more aware of time, I'm being more aware of light. And so I don't know that I could say that in previous years.  I've just recently started paying attention to this and that was something that was a part of my life. So I'm excited for summer solstice, and all the discoveries that I might make and connection to in my environment. 

Christina Roberts  04:11

I would say this has been something as a parent, I think I was first aware of this with my youngest and it was time to go to bed.  It was light out and it's 8:30 at night, 9 o'clock. As a little one, you maybe have an eight o'clock bedtime, and it's like, well, it's light out. And I thought, I guess we need some darker shades. And then I had this idea of, okay, well, maybe there's an invitation to shift our schedule a little bit and really recognize, okay, the summer, the days are longer, what does that mean? And you tend to maybe have dinner a little bit later or some of your activities, you're going to the summer concerts or if you have access to a pool, or some of those things where there's a little bit more of a leisurely pace to the summertime and that lightness.  I think that’s the first part of my awareness, where I now pay attention to the summer solstice. It's the longest day of the year, how are we going to be outside if possible to celebrate that? Pre-pandemic, we were part of a picnic that was happening. And so this year on the calendar, we have something scheduled as well, because I really want to be outside with other people celebrating the beauty of this day and the mark of a new season. And this recognition that we enjoy light, we soak up light, light is good, and lots of light is good. Because a lot of times I think even in day to day, the news, we tend to focus on negative news or what's bad in the world, etc. And that is real. And I don't want to be naive. But gosh, there's so much light, there's so much goodness, there's so much hope and love. And I think it's important to pause and to pay attention to that, whether it be literally or symbolically.

Kristina Kaiser  05:46

And that celebration of all of this aliveness. A lot of people don't like fall.  Fall is absolutely my favorite because of the color. But of course, a lot of people don't like it, because they're already anticipating what's coming. But I have this activity I need to do for class. It's to be outside for two to three hours. And I could have done it in the winter. But I really wanted to wait until this moment, or maybe not exactly right now, because as we record, it is raining outside. But somewhere in the vicinity of this moment. Because of all the things we're naming: the flowers are out, the trees are just in full bloom, the birds are singing. There's so much aliveness, it's everywhere you look. And I was in a workshop with somebody recently. And we were looking to pay attention to life in ways that maybe we're not accustomed to in our culture here in America. And so there was this walk going on. And she was reflecting on one particular kind of plant up in the distance a bit and seeing all these other things that were flowering. And so she said to this plant, Oh, are you sad that you don't have flowers? And she felt like the plant said, and I know this would probably sound kind of weird to some people. But she felt like the plant said, I do have flowers. And when she got closer indeed, the plant had flowers. And the thing is, I don't think I grew up in a culture where we thought we have a connection to plant life this way, that somehow we could feel so connected that we feel like the plant spoke to us. And yet, as I am aging, I want to know more about that.  This has not been my story. I don't know much about it. But I do want to know more about it. 

Christina Roberts  07:31

And Kristina, I want to lift up something that you just said, which follows your favorite season, but people often don't like that, because they're anticipating what's coming next. And I think that is often our story.  Rather than savoring and appreciating the present moments, we're anticipating what's next. And I think even with this idea of light, there are times in our life where there's just a lot of light going on, things are going well in multiple areas of our life. And often when that happens, rather than accepting it with gratitude, and really going deep with it, immediately, we think, Okay, what's around the corner? What's going to happen? What's next, that’s going to sabotage this light that I'm feeling? I think the solstice is saying, No, there's this big, large container of light right now. It is good. Take it in. And so I appreciate you kind of naming that. Because I think psychologically, we tend to do that as humans.

Chris Roberts  08:18

I think something that I was trying to be aware of when a friend talked to me about all the benefits and joys of winter and what it does for our environment. And I've been thinking, what are all the benefits that summer has to bring in?  What would I say as a benefit? What I'm discovering as a benefit that other people would say, Oh, God, I hate that.  Bugs are out in full force in the summer.  Mosquitoes, ticks, all the stuff that we would say is not a great part of our ecosystem. I think that just speaks to how knowledgeable we are of our ecosystem.  They provide food for all kinds of life, for the birds, for everything that is around us. And so I found that I was listening to someone talk about the ways that our world is changing. And you can really see the ways that our world is changing. The summer solstice is what we're talking about today. But one of the things that he said was whenever he was a kid, and they would go on vacation. They would go across the country, and they would have to stop every hour or two hours to clean their windshield because of all the bugs that would collect and gather on their windshield. And so he was noticing that driving across the country, he could drive eight to 10 hours in the peak season for bugs and have just a fraction of what is remembered as a kid.  Just a fraction of the bugs. And so I think this awareness piece that we're talking about, paying attention to the birds, paying attention to the insects that we don't like.  If we could notice, and if we could turn our awareness to our environment, I think we're going to have some opportunities to reclaim some of the things that might be diminishing in our society, in our culture. And so that's what comes up for me. 

Christina Roberts  10:30

I think it's important to name these aspects of nature that are uncomfortable for us. I'm thinking I have a friend who lives in Alaska. And there's extreme light, like too much light for too much of the year. The same with darkness, but we're talking about light now. And  interrupting sleep because if it's bright out, you're not getting the sleep you need. And so he really had to adapt with eye shades and shades in the curtains, all these different blackout things to sleep, because otherwise, you're just up all hours of the night and your circadian rhythms are messed up. I think that is a hard thing that we have to think about as well. But even naming the bugs, of course, that's something that I don't enjoy about being outside of the summer.  If it's sticky, hot, and mosquitoes. But I was recently at an eco-spirituality kids event called kids on the prairie here locally.  This local ecologist was taking some water out from the lake, and inviting us with a magnifying glass to look at all the bugs and the species in the water. And so for me, I would think, Oh, that’s mucky water. Gross. But for her it was so sacred.  She had this beautiful container, and we're all looking and she said, you know, this is what feeds the dragonfly. So when you see the beautiful dragonflies, they feed off of what you see in this water. And she was naming the beautiful things that we see as a source for them. And then when they were done with the water, they didn't just like to dump it on the ground.  They very gingerly put it back into the lake, to go back in to be with the insects and the birds and all of that needed. And I thought, Wow, what a sacred way.  For me it would be gross, mucky water that I would want nothing to do with. She saw the beauty in that. And so I appreciate you again, winter and summer solstice, I don't want summer, all year long. Barbara Brown Taylor talks about sunny Christianity, and how a lot of our faith traditions only want to talk about, “Praise God. God is good.”  We can't talk about anything hard or anything challenging. And I think that's off kilter as well. So anyway, just kind of having that balance that you're describing Chris of these things that would feel a little bit uncomfortable. They're part of that as well. And it matters.

Chris Roberts  12:32

Yeah. And I think naming some of the uncomfortable things is important. If you don't name it, you can't do it. And so for me, I love Wisconsin, I keep moving further and further north. For those of you listening that don't know, I grew up in Texas, and Texas is super hot. And one of the things that I'm trying to pay attention to is how do I continue to enjoy all the good stuff and have a positive attitude in scorching heat?  How do I continue to get outdoors? How do I continue to put layers on and deal with the uncomfortable feeling of being hot? And I think sometimes, that's exactly what we need to do in life is embrace these difficult things in order to be beautiful. And so that's something that I'm trying to pay attention to. Heat is uncomfortable for me. I don't like it. When I get hot, I get headaches. But there are so many things to discover. Even in the uncomfortableness of summer weather.  

Kristina Kaiser  13:47

I like both the things that you're naming.  They are the things to really sit with. What does it mean to look at something that you think is so yucky? And then be like, Oh, it's nourishing and somehow this nourishment it's all a part of us? Also, what does it mean to be uncomfortable but not unhappy in a way? So to embrace all of these aspects of who we are because they pass and it all fits into the things that we're talking about all the time.  This is hot and humid. And as it passes it moves on and if you move just a little bit farther north it passes faster just to say like we have less 90-degree weather than you do. So I have the added benefit of where I live now is how many days have been 80 and breezy are  85 and breezy and it's different. It just dips a little and where you live can make a big switch in that. But of course in exchange for that you get the freezing cold so you have to take the whole package at the end of the day.

Chris Roberts  14:56

What a nice plug to invite us to be close to you where you're at Kristina.

Kristina Kaiser  15:02

Anytime, anytime.

Christina Roberts  15:04

Thanks for a fun conversation around the summer solstice. And we hope our listeners enjoy this beautiful day.

Christina Roberts  15:16

So on that note, this is the time on our podcast where we talk about what we are into this week.

Chris Roberts  15:20

Well, I've noticed we've been talking about being out in nature. And one of the things that I've experienced as I've been out in nature is allergies. And so that's a negative thing. But one of the things that I've been doing to sort of deal with the allergies is a little hot water and apple cider vinegar.  That is helping me with my allergies and allowing me to continue to be out in nature.  Yesterday, I was able to go on quite a few long walks, and I went on a pretty long bike ride, and I was able to mow the yard. And instead of feeling worse today for being outside, I actually feel better than I did yesterday. And I think it's because of things that help us that are natural, like apple cider vinegar. So I'm into home remedies. 

Kristina Kaiser  16:16

That is a very worthy thing. Apple cider vinegar is also good for your hair, should you feel like there's a little bit of buildup in it. So just a little plug for apple cider vinegar. I think that I am into what we would have traditionally called Spring cleaning, although it feels a little late to be doing spring cleaning at this point. But in preparation for all of this sitting contemplatively and enjoying things, we decided we really needed to spray down the sun porch. And so we took everything out, and we got out the hose and washed everything we had to then put it all back.  It felt so shiny. And we're like, look, it's not quite the weather, the 50s.  It gets a bit cold once the sun goes down. So we're looking forward to actually enjoying the fruits of our labor. But the act of doing it was quite enjoyable and lovely. 

Christina Roberts  17:07

Well, I am into bike rides. And I am into embracing that I have a cruiser bike and I am a slow bike rider. And so we've been going on some family bike rides, and I'm often at the back just because I want to make sure all the kids are safe. And we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. But I'm fine. I'm not in a rush. I don't mind that I am the last one to arrive at the destination. I listen to my podcasts and it's kind of fun. When I'm thinking about different things that strike you in a podcast. It's like, oh, yeah, it was by this particular part of the path. And I remember this part of the podcast really struck me.  So even connecting parts of the bike path with different podcasts that I'm listening to ended up having an integration there. So I am very much into the enjoyment of bike rides. 

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