02 Feb 2022 2.0

Dear Tilters

We are now 69 members in this community of Tilters, each intent on tilting our future and the future of those we love towards better – one idea, one small action at a time. Just a few too many to seat everyone on the same tour bus if we were all out adventuring together. That is exciting! And that number has grown steadily over the past 20 editions.

YES. This is edition 21! The third in our cycles of seven. No heavy discussions. Just time to reflect.

Space. It is the idea of creating what Bill Tomoff calls “slack time”. Lisa Orlick inspired these reflection editions when she shared that the years 2021-2022 were sabbatical years leading me to learn about the Jewish tradition of Shmita (more here). You can read editions 7 and 14 to discover more of why the ability to rest, restore, and recover is so central to a healthy set of 21st-century living skills.

In reviewing our past six issues, it is no surprise that many of them revolved around end-of-the-year practices.

Digest of the past few issues:

• Hallelujah! – It was a celebration of nature and song, and a deft rendition of Handel’s Messiah filmed at various scenic locations in the ten provinces of Canada. Breathtaking. Just what the doctor ordered in the week between Christmas and New Year, as I took time out to spend some precious moments with my family.
• Grateful in 2021 – was a look back with gratitude. I came up with a list of 21. But I shared the few most important achievements including getting vaccinated and becoming an author!
• Write the 2022 that is right for you – is an invitation to get in the driver’s seat and craft the kind of year you would like to see evolve.
• Hope or Despair? – Climate conversations can be very depressing. I find it particularly gratifying to bring attention to positive ideas and energy in this area. This post focused on Gabriella D’Cruz, winner of The Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award who is creating seaweed farms off the western coast of India.
• A single snowflake – This is about the power of small, and how an inconsequential snowflake can make an incredible impact through the sheer power of community.
• Going Bananas – this was a fun post to pull together on the history of bananas – and I have now crowd-sourced a nice collection of recipes!

Return of the sun.

Yes. A definite cluster of “let’s start the new year off” posts with a smattering of hibernation and food! To pull from Margaret Attwood’s poem February

Winter. Time to eat fat
and watch hockey.

February, month of despair,
with a skewered heart in the centre.
I think dire thoughts, and lust for French fries
with a splash of vinegar.

If you are not happy with the way your year started, and are looking for a restart – a 2.0 version if you like – there are many opportunities. Groundhog Day; Lunar New Year; are some that come to mind.

This week I discovered another.

I have already been noticing the way each day is a few minutes longer than the last. But I hadn’t thought about what it might be like to live in an endless night in the very northern latitudes. A chance comment on a photo I saw in passing yesterday led to the discovery of the festivals that celebrate the “return of the sun” with festivals to mark the first sunrise of the new year.

Here is a description from Inuvik in Canada and Qaanaaq in Northern Greenland.

This dance that the sun does with our soul in the depths of winter reminds us that even though it feels bad in the moment, there are cycles in nature and life. This is where resilience is born.

Find the past 21 issues of this newsletter here on the substack archive or on my website karenadesouza.com

I look forward to continuing to receive your thoughts and comments. Thank you for sharing these with me – Laila, Sana, Terri, Kathy, Julie, Joann, Tommy, Sharon. It means a lot to me that you take the time to tell me what you like, what is working and what can change. See you again next week.

Karena

PS. I am playing with visual messaging. I promised myself I’d try one each month. This first one is based on the single snowflake post at Tommy’s suggestion – what do you think?