Wintering Hopescape

For Going Deeper and Cultivating Hope

Wintering Hopescape (Images and video below)

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A wintering hopescape, a special place that inspires HOPE, kindles your sense of wonder.  Living, vibrant Nature-kin comfort and console you during the hibernating season.  While daylight is limited and many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), here are four easy ways to invite some soul-strengthening wonder to seep deeply into your imagination and help you delight in growing, nurturing, and dreaming, all while improving your overall health and strengthening your soul for the journey ahead.

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​Reflecting Pool of Light - Anywhere you have a fire source in your home - a wood-burning or natural gas fireplace, a ventless tabletop fire bowl with clean-burning bio-ethanol, or even a pillar candle - you have the opportunity to add water for reflection - a glass bowl or shallow dish, or any vessel of water that reflects the light.  Place the vessel in safe proximity to the fire. Once the dancing flames are reflected in the water, the movement of light and shadow created on your walls and ceiling will soothe you for gentle reflection and rest.  The combination of fire and water mimic Earth's mesmerizing movement and energy. The resultant dance is sure to delight and enthrall you while you meditate, play music, practice yoga or tai chi, or dance to your own rhythm. 

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Lepidoptery Haven - Butterfly kits are great ways to provide a safe starting point for endangered pollinators right in the warmth of your own home.  Keep a photo journal of the life stages of the monarch, for example (https://monarchjointventure.org/monarch-biology/life-cycle), and chart your own growth cycle as you provide the optimum growing conditions for your winged kin.  Note what is emerging in you as this natural process unfolds.  Each stage has something to teach us about the unfolding of our own life journey.

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Mycelial Wonder - Mushroom varietal kits are excellent ways to add color, depth, interest and discovery to your list of gentle hobbies.  All life in the biosphere is strengthened through mycelial communication beneath the surface of the Earth, formed through mycorrhizal networks as tree roots intertwine for mutual protection and resilience. Mycelial networks found in fungi are essential to this wood-wide-web. As your mushrooms grow, note your own depth connections with family and friends.  Draw your own detailed network of mentors, heroes and heroines, elders, companions, fellow sojourners, proteges, children, grandchildren, students, creature-kin and community members.  See where the connections are strongest, and where new connections can be made.

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Bonsai Zen Centering - The practice of growing bonsai trees cultivates patience, harmony, balance, and creative collaboration.  It involves much more than growing tiny trees. It requires commitment to artistic creativity and a profound attention to detail. (https://bonsairesourcecenter.com/the-definitive-guide-to-bonsai-tree-symbolism/) As you learn to prune your bonsai and care for its aesthetic balance and beauty, note your own need for balance and beauty, and feed it by paying attention to the many opportunities you have for learning, recreation, and aesthetic appreciation. 

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This Wintering Hopescape has four design features - any one of which could be created simply, with minimal cost and space. Each facet has the potential to inspire and fill you with wonder as you burrow deeply into your own wintering cocoon and foster whatever new life is emerging in you.  Be bold. Wonder and hope are sure to find you with just a little imagination and the courage to learn something new.