2020 has been a most trying year–for our bodies, our souls, our minds, our spirits, our communities and our global welfare. Some things, like COVID-19, are currently getting worse. Some things, like the U.S. political landscape seem to be slowly resolving into new forms. Nothing is certain, and there is much work to do. We are not only in the darkest time of the solar year, we’ve been in some of the darkest times in our countries and the world.

And still the light returns, not only in the cycle of seasons, but also in the seasons of nations. Light is returning and glimmers of light are arising through the cracks in our tattered systems.

Please join Lynnaea Lumbard, NewStories Board Chair, in collaboration with Larisa Benson, Whidbey Institute Board President and GovJoy Host, for sharing and sense-making our COVID-19 year. We will complete our time together with honoring the Solstice and the Return of the Light with a ceremony of healing, singing, releasing the old and welcoming the new.

Please come prepared with a candle, a piece of paper and a pen.

Let us witness each other, strengthen our connections, and engage in deep conversation as we celebrate the return of the light.