What makes your holidays truly merry and bright?
BRIGHT BLESSINGS of the FULL COLD moon to you
Here when you need me
I hope this practice sets a beautiful tone for your holiday season! If you’re ever in need of additional personalized support, I’m here for you.
december 4, 2025
Allow the Cold to Slow your Pace
The cold moon is, of course, named for the cold season that we have entered into. The nights are long. The days are short. The cold literally slows nature. Water freezes. Animals hibernate or rest. Plants go dormant as frost and snow blanket the landscape.
And yet our lives do not necessarily follow the natural rhythms around us. There are so many things that keep us from slowing down along with nature. For the most part, our responsibilities to our household, work, and communities don’t change with the weather or the hours of sunlight and darkness. And so we wake long before the sun rises, shovel the front stoop, scrape ice off the windshield, or slide our way down the sidewalk to get to where we need to go.
December, the darkest time of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere, can also be the busiest (and most stressful) for folks due to holidays and their associated traditions, celebrations, and expectations.
For those aspects that bring more joy, hooray! That’s wonderful. But for the aspects that bring stress in terms of time, energy, scheduling, and finances, can we let the dark and frozen world around us invite us into a different pace?
For last month's beaver moon, we focused on preparing our physical spaces. For the cold moon this month, I invite us to reflect on our schedules and where we want to spend our energy.
Pause and Reflect
Take a few moments to reflect on what would truly make this season feel festive and joyful for you—even if it’s counter to the many (many) expectations of the holidays. You can close your eyes and let your mind wander, or you may want to journal your way through this reflection.
Consider:
What are the barriers to making your ideal winter day a reality?
Is there someone that you can ask for help to make this a more joyful and less stressful season?
Is there someone that you can reach out to to help make their season more joyful and less stressful?
How do you all hold the warm feelings of the holidays together with the uncertainty and pain in the world around us?
Bonus Round
Either on your own or with others, take some time and light a candle for something you want to take away from this month to encourage a slower pace and create more spaciousness in your holiday schedule. Then light a candle for something you want to add to your routine to make it more joyful, festive, or peaceful. If you’re doing this with others, take turns lighting candles and sharing what you want to add or remove. And then talk with each other about how you can support one another’s desires.
Join us!
If you’re in the Baltimore area, join the Wild Maven community to do this practice together! We’ll gather Thursday, December 4, at 7pm at The Space Within in Hampden. Tap the button for details and to RSVP.