A Pondside Postcard From Me to You

Good morning Vocal community and welcome to the second edition of my Monday Morning Huddle.

If you are stopping by for the first time, this little project of mine is a 2025 weekly nature-inspired read to kick off the new work week. A short post featuring personal photography taken from my phone and little tidbits of info ( depending on what inspires me) including little-known facts, folklore, spiritual parallels, mantras, meditations, and more.

My favorite pondside attraction in East Greenbush NY is today's cover photo. Although photographed last Winter, the setting is fresh in my mind's eye as a sort of Winter Wonderland.

Spiritual Significance ❄️❄️❄️

Ponds are symbolic of reflection and renewal. Still-waters mirror the sky and natural surroundings, urging one to take a personal deep dive and explore their inner workings.

These are common feelings during warmer temperatures but what about Winter?

Albeit, a less-than-ideal experience for some, the Winter pond has a certain magickal appeal all her own. Awaiting the coming of Spring when frozen waters thaw and all that's beneath comes to life again speaks to the depths of consciousness.

Think: the deepest of dives into spirituality, the season of death before rebirth.

What is going on with your shadow shelf?

What do you need to nurture in the darkness before it can thrive in the light?

At a glance, it may appear that not much is going on with a pond in January, but despite the snow, ice, and frigid temperatures, much life is brewing below the surface.

Amphibians, fish, and invertebrates live in freezing waters. Like hibernation, brumation marks a period of inactivity that helps them survive.

Now to you: ❄️❄️❄️

During this Winter and dark part of the year, what qualities have you deemed inactive or sluggish or put to the side in wait for brighter days, warmer temperatures, and degrees leaping by bounds?

Have you become frozen in place, metaphorically or otherwise since the season's shift and nature's ultimate cool down?

If prone to depression, like myself, Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD, might be familiar. Loss of light, daylight, and the sun's warmth are personal triggers, especially for this gal who would much rather skip Winter altogether.

On the other hand, since discovering the gem in my feature photo a year ago, my mindset has altered somewhat; now I choose to see the magickal moments and spiritual parallels in snow, cooler weather, and especially ponds.

Deemed a "Pondside Postcard" because I want, you, the reader to embark on your winter wonderland. When we think of a postcard, we think of a lovely photo gesture received or sent reflecting a vacation, holiday, or what have you.

Use my picture as inspiration and plan your mental vacay by diving into the depths of your consciousness. What's lying dormant? What adventures are you hoarding (maybe I should say boarding) until Spring's return? What can you do right now, today, to lift your spirits and celebrate Nature's return to darkness correlating to your human return to the dark hour of the soul?

HMM...

Treasures are everywhere, you know, and sometimes the best ones require the most unearthing.

Crack the ice, dive right in, wander, dare to wonder, explore, and greet all that is in slow-mo yet anxiously awaiting your presence.

Remember: we are spiritual beings living a physical existence, not the other way around. All seasons gift us opportunities to heighten our mindsets. Break the ice and discover your spiritual breakthrough.

A quote by Henry David Thoreau:

Every winter the liquid and trembling surface of the pond, which was so sensitive to every breath, and reflected every light and shadow, becomes solid to the depth of a foot or a foot and a half, that it will support the heaviest teams, and perchance the snow covers it to an equal depth, and it is not to be distinguished from any level field. Like the marmots in the surrounding hills, it closes its eye-lids and becomes dormant for three months or more.

A gift for you, if so inspired, check out this YouTube treat- no music, just gentle snow falling on a pond. Mighty relaxing and soul soothing!

Thanks for reading and see you next week for another edition of my year-long Vocal Media project, The Monday Morning Huddle.

Have a lovely week, my teammates! 🥰