As we tiptoe into another year of uncertainty, I’ve been reflecting on the things that bring me solace. I find deep solace in wonder, and in wildness. Solace in the earth, and the awareness of the temporality of each season. Solace in a good book, in the wood stove, in a cup of tea and a blanket on the couch. Solace in connection—with my community, with strangers on the trail, with birds and plants and trees. Solace in presence, through meditation and the breath.
Often, it’s the small moments that bring me the greatest solace, like looking up to realize the pine siskins have returned to the feeder. In the end, the moments are all we have.
In my Reflections blog posts on the website, I write about what the more-than-human teaches me about being human, like what I’ve learned about precarity, trust, and light from tending fire in the winter. If you’re on Instagram, I recently created a new account @elizabeth_domenech_writer where I’m exploring all things wonder and wild (and writing, of course).
I hope you’ll follow along, and forward to friends so we can grow in community together.
In the Happenings section below, I share a reading recommendation, a fun fact about juniper berries, and my recently recorded field note about how moss adapts to wintertime.
Thanks for being here!
With gratitude,
P R O M P T
Where do you find solace these days? What’s one small act that would nurture solace within and for yourself? Where can you pause to be present in the moment?
I N T E N T I O N S + A F F I R M A T I O N S
I am willing to be present in this moment. May I be present to this season of my life. May I grant myself solace.
I don’t think I’ve ever delighted in a book more than Amy Leach’s The Everybody Ensemble. Her imagination, lyrical use of language, and captivating wit have me grinning with every page.
F I E L D N O T E S
A NEW RECORDING
This beauty of a moss is called star moss! I explore some surprising facts about moss—did you know moss can photosynthesize under snow??—in a new Field Note for the Montana Natural History Center. Listen here.
C U R I O S I T I E S
DID YOU KNOW?
I am loving the blues of the juniper berries on these winter days. Did you know that only female juniper trees produce berries, and that the berries are actually the seed cone of the juniper?
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