Life as a Circle

This morning I've been reflecting on how life seems to move in circles and how people often refer to it as spiraling upward or downward, or things coming 'full circle'. Circle of life. Breathing in and breathing out, rising and falling, beginning and ending. I have always been drawn to the spiral image and one of my favourite pieces of jewelery is a hand-made silver spiral ring that I bought on the isle of Skye in Scotland many years ago.

The synchronicity of life appeared again when I received an email on Thursday from an old high school friend. I haven't heard from her since we entered our first year in college. Life took us on different paths, to different parts of the country. Nevertheless, she was someone that I have thought about often, and now she has come back into my circle of life so to speak. She is running her own business producing herbal skincare, http://www.heirloombotanicals.com/ which shows me how our paths have led us to similar interests once again.

In Steiner education, the spiral is used to represent this time of year, advent and winter. I'm not especially well versed in Steiner, but I can say that I understand it to represent the journey both inward, and outward. The spiral advent festival also represents the coming of the longest night (solstice) and the return of the light that happens with the lengthening of days after the winter solstice occurs.

At the moment, I feel connected to everything and that is a wonderful, if not sometimes fleeting feeling, as everyday living often makes us forget the utter simplicity and perfection of this life. But hey, if I remembered these insights all the time then I'd be enlightened.