Well of Light
Embracing The Darkness
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You darkness, of whom I am born,
I love you more than the flame that limits the world
to the circle it illumines and excludes all the rest...

Rainer Marie Rilke ​

Dear Ones, 
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Winter solstice marks the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. In these times of darkness it’s easy to forget that the light of spring is on it’s way. The dark times have always been a time to go inward, to explore and embrace the darkness within; the fears, resentments, anger, sorrow and grief. When we allow these darker emotions to exist, and quit trying to push them away, we reclaim the energetic sovereignty of our spacious interiority. It is from this place that we evolve and grow, in the rich humus of our humanity. When we respect the dark times, we find the light that has been trapped inside.

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Like a seed we plant in the rich, dark soil of our inner garden, we have within us the longing and innate capacity to reach towards the light for our nourishment and fulfillment.  But, like any garden we must prepare the soil, feed it, attend to it, love it and allow these spores of life to do what they were born to do. Most of all, we need to let go and trust the natural evolutionary process. To honor and respect the unwanted, as well as the things we long for, is to open ourselves to wholeness. Everyone is sacred and worthy of respect, beginning with yourself! ​

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands,
but in seeing with new eyes.
Proust

Respect is a value, which we develop through seeing others and ourselves beyond judgment, projection or conclusion.  The word respect breaks down into re-spect: re means “again anew” and spec, means “to look”.  So, the definition of respect is literally, “to look again newly” . This means that when we respect someone, we relinquish our limiting stories, judgments and conclusions from the past and cultivate a sense of curiosity and wonder towards them.  We wipe the slate clean by seeing and listening to them as if for the first time. In this a new world of possibility and potential becomes available.

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Without respect, we deal with others from expectation, assumption and conclusion, rather than through honoring their deeper creativity, commitment and contribution. This allows us to honor and celebrate their innate natural genius and inter-being with us.  We begin to recognize that we are co-creating a reality together, not in separation. Respect is not something earned, it is a gift that is given and is refined through presence, generosity, authenticity and openness.

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Men are respectable only as they respect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We hope you will take some time on this Solstice, to stop, contemplate and embrace where you are not respecting yourself and others. We can only truly give to others, that which we are willing to give to ourselves. At the heart of all our suffering is the myth of separation. To respect, is to reclaim our deep interconnection with all of life. If we love unconditionally, all that arises within ourselves and embrace the differences that make each of us unique, we will be participating in the healing of humanity and the evolution of human consciousness.

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When we were on our Vision Quest last month, I realized that we had been working on our online offerings round the clock for the past 3 years and doing my weekly radio shows now for 15 years. Funding has come mainly out of our own pockets. While I am passionate about sharing this work and have been nourished by offering these programs, I have seen that I have not been respecting my own health or financial wellbeing. If you enjoy and respect the work we have been doing, please consider becoming a Patreon https://www.patreon.com/welloflight and member of the Well of Light support group. Thank you to all of you who have joined our growing community! 

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Thank you for being an integral part of our global family. We wish you a holiday season filled with joy and wonder, love and laughter, and peace and prosperity.

Infinite love and boundless blessings,
Michael & Meriel

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...the dark embraces everything:
Shapes and shadows, creatures and me,
People, nations - just as they are.

It lets me imagine
A great presence stirring beside me.

I have faith in the night.
Rainer Marie Rilke