Western Tradition recognizes winter as a time of reflection. A time to sit at home and bask in the warmth of the fire; enjoying the fruits of the harvest that sustains us through the coldness and brings us to the renewal which comes with every spring.

With the shortest day of the year passing, a whole 4 hours and 30 minutes shorter than the longest day of the year on 21 December. The winter solstice has come and gone leaving a reminder of how fast we move through the seasons.

This time of rest, peace and worldly reflection is etched in our minds by stories like Dickens A Christmas Carol or Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas, but the truth of our modern world with its connectivity and our widening use of media products for everything, we seem to have lost focus and many of us are ungrounded and suffering.

Our world doesn’t seem to be presenting peace and good will towards humankind but instead one of stress, over stimulation  and restlessness.

Despite the fact that we stay at home more these days, I see many people being stressed by what is happening around them. With information available every second of every day on our phones. We are bombarded with, emails, texts and alerts warning of new Covid variants and lock downs.  A plethora of fear inducing news of all sorts. All affecting our gut health and immune system.

A strong immune system is the very thing we need to fight the virus. So, compromising ourselves with stress is counterproductive and now with Covid, it can be lethal.

DON’T WORRY -  There is some good news !

We are all living better lives than our ancestors.

There is new hope in solving world issues like the environment, poverty, and pandemics.

Science has created plastic-eating bacteria for landfill, we have created the 1^st 3D map of our universe. We can create snow in areas that need water via cloud seeding. We have discovered the world’s oldest animal, there has been advances in medicine and previously thought of alternative medicines like homeopathy and gut health have been recognized and accepted by most of the medical establishment and governments world-wide.

The good news is not delivered to us like the click bait fear news, but if you look for it there is so much to learn about our wonderful world and what wonderful things are happening. Humanity is not lost; our course is not set. We just have to start noticing and putting out for better things in our lives.

We practice gratefulness in our house, when we sit and have our tea in the morning, we try to find something to be grateful for. Some days are harder than others and than we turn to our basics . Food, shelter, employment and health. These things are often taken for granted but when you pause for a moment and think about how lucky we are, you can’t help but be cheerful.

Being grateful is a wonderful way of lifting our spirits and if you get through your list of basic items to be grateful for and can’t get excited about plastic eating bacteria, just read some of the articles in this month’s Vitalis library. You will soon be counting yourself lucky if you don’t have to deal with some of the health challenges we are discussing.

At the core of a positive outlook is the creative mind, daydreaming, desire, fantasy and passion. We all have these attributes and switching them on instead of Netflix or Stan will greatly assist you in projecting more positive outcomes.

We need to care less that Tom Cruise is going into outer space and care more about our neighbours and our community. What we do and how we contribute, share and enjoy.
One final reason to be grateful are the yummy recipes that we have available in our library.  Take some time, turn off media, put on music and start creating in the kitchen. It is so satisfying and usually garners much appreciation from your loved ones. And let’s face it, our loved ones are what we need to cherish and celebrate, along with all the other things we are grateful for.

So, throw a party this winter.  Even with the Covid restrictions a dinner party for 5 can be lots of fun !

Enjoy, be happy, don’t worry and boost your immune system at the same time.

See you next month