Pivot.

Every year, around this time, I start feeling like I’m in a vise. The world is tightening, the tunnel is narrowing, the darkness is deepening. And then I remember that we’re nearing the solstice, and it all makes sense.

Today is the pivot point. It’s like the deep stretch at the most agonizing point of a yoga twist, when I hold my breath. But of course, you’re not supposed to hold your breath; you’re supposed to breathe through it, the pain, the pleasure, the unbearable contraction.

The solstice will pass, and then we can start to open back up, to the sun.