Today at 7:58 am was the Winter Solstice. That’s when the days stop getting shorter and start getting longer again. Metaphorically, it’s when darkness starts leaving our lives again and we welcome in more light.

Ruben and I celebrated with a 7:58 am morning run, of course. The first half of the run was on a well-worn regular route, but then on the way back we wandered on an unplanned, unmapped, unfamiliar route. We just let ourselves go where our feet and Ruben’s nose led us. It was wonderful. I thought about things I’d like to let go of and things that I’d like more of in my life.

We ran past the cafe where I had brunch with the recruiter who convinced me to come to Puppet in the first place. We ran past the park where we finished the naked bike ride with a friend I met on the Wild Rogue Relay the year before. We ran past the bar where I crashed 17 miles into a hard summer run and just staggered in and laid flat on the floor for 45 minutes attempting to recover (Amazingly, they were fairly nonplussed). We crossed paths with the very first Sunday Parkways route we rode while marveling at miles of city streets being shut down for people to just ride their bikes. We traversed the park where we helped lay a scent track to help Annie the dog find her way home.

And along the way it became more obvious that what I need most is to learn how to find joy again. The last few years have barraged us with daily outrages and then two full years of nothing. I’ve let myself become numbed and I’d like to change that.

How about yourself?

📍 The photo is not mine, alas. It’s from Amsterdam, another place where I’ve found joy in the past.