DandeLion Grove

We are descending into the darkest time of the year, made even more challenging by Daylight Savings Time’s end, which jolted us into sudden darkness at dinnertime. We are hard-wired to the light, and our inner clocks struggle to reconcile the difference. We can feel a bit fuzzy-headed and sluggish till our bodies make the shift. I feel like this years’ time change was a doozy and hard to come out of. As the shadows of sunset come earlier each day, we are drawn inwards. We feel sleepy by dinnertime, caused by the rising of melatonin in our bodies in response to the diminishing light. We long for comfort and warmth, and desire to linger in our jammies and cuddle on the couch. The world seems cold and harsh at times, and we reach for the sanctity of our caves, so to speak. November brings us to a place of transition. The sweetness of summer is gone, the fall is being replaced by bluster and starkness, and the holiday brightness is not quite yet upon is. Our bodies, being a

It is the little things that hold the tapestry of life together. So often it feels like the only things we recognize are big milestones, like getting a job, or a house, or some kind of "great" success. Or worse, our glaringly biggest life mistake continues to haunt us, even when we've changed our ways and made recompense. Our culture excels at judging life's adventures as all good or all bad. It's easy to get caught up in that mindset ourselves. We can get so focused on achieving big things that we're not present for the small details that are constantly weaving our life story.  When I look back on my life, it is the gentle and subtle little things that have been the "a-ha" moments, the most meaningful for me to experience. A sweet smile on a really bad day, a kick in the pants by a loved one who knows I need it, a message of gratitude from an unexpected place, or a moment of beauty at a highway rest stop - these are the tender mome