December is a time of deep quiet. There is nothing like the silence of a pre-dawn morning in Winter. Whether your holiday celebrations are religious or spiritual, there is a tangible collective energy this time of year. Stories describe this feeling as Christmas magic. For this short time we are tapped into something beyond our human interpretation if we pay close attention. Some years I feel it more strongly than others. Whether it is because I’m not as distracted or because there are ebbs and flows of energy just like the tides, I can’t say for sure. What I do know is that nature takes this time to conserve energy, rest, take stock of what needs restoring. Like trees, we need time for turning inward. It is a time of reflection, restoration. This one month of listening to deep silence sustains me for the rest of the year until the quiet of nature returns.