This is a powerful time.

As a collective we not only approach the end of the season of Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and others… we also approach the end of the year and the end of the decade.

We tend to associate negative thoughts and emotions with endings, often because there are many endings in life we do not choose, or cannot control.

Or a time simply comes to a close and we can get lost in nostalgia of the happiness that such a time carried – feeling sadness for what we once had and wishing it would return.

But each ending makes way for a new beginning – it’s the Circle of Life.

Native American and Peruvian cultures use a Medicine Wheel to illustrate this ever continuing cycle of life and the spiritual realms at work beneath the surface.

The four directions are each tied to a season of nature and a time in life. The North represents Winter, our elders, their wisdom and death… which gives way to the East and Spring, with it’s rising sun of a new day and new beginnings.

Death is not viewed as an endpoint only to be mourned, but the fertile ground where new creation can prepare to be born. Green tree leaves of summer turn bright colors in autumn, before they die and fall to decompose into the soil of winter. As tiny organisms return them to energy for all that grows with sunlight, new leaves burst forth from the tree again in the warmth of the spring sunlight.

Such is the circle of life.

In my world, this time is teaching me the lessons of change. I’m experiencing the transitions of death as we said goodbye to our beloved Guinness on Sunday December 22nd (that is the same day spiritual teacher Baba Ram Dass passed by the way, so I’ve had many imaginings of their two bright spirits sharing wisdom and laughter together wherever they may be).

Guinness was a witness to my life for almost my entire adulthood, spanning nearly two decades. The bond created over such a span of time imprinted itself on my heart and my soul, and it will remain with me for the rest of my days.

Grief can be hard and heavy, but as a good friend once told me “sadness is proof that love is real and true”. If you are also dealing with the grief of a lost pet there is a great article by Julie Axlerod here that may help you understand the process and be patient with yourself during this time.

And for those of you who have followed us along our Cat & Craft journey this year, you may remember sweet senior Autumn, whom we fostered at the cafe over the summer.

She too passed this week, peacefully surrounded by the love of LYFF Rescue volunteers and her foster family. I’m certain Guinness and Rugby, and all other lives we’ve collectively loved and lost were there to welcome her back into the limitless freedom, love and light of all that exists beyond what our eyes can currently see.

And as the circle of life continues, perhaps each has been called home to begin a new season of life and love.

Much love to you at the close of this year. And here’s to the new beginnings ahead.  

Caroline