Winter has always been an invitation for me to turn inward.
As the days grow shorter, I naturally find myself reflecting more deeply. This season, that reflection has been especially rich. I have been looking honestly at where forgiveness is still needed. Forgiving myself. Forgiving others. Even noticing where I desire forgiveness from others. Alongside that has been a steady current of gratitude. Gratitude for the gifts in my life. Gratitude for the challenges that shaped me. Gratitude for the lessons that are still unfolding.
Winter is also a time when my faith deepens. I find myself listening more. Praying more. Recommitting to my purpose, to my relationship with God, and to myself. There is something about the quiet of this season that makes truth easier to hear.
This time of year, I love to curl up under a warm blanket with a cup of tea. That simple act feels like a kind of devotion. A gentle message to my nervous system that it is safe to slow down. That I do not need to push or prove anything right now. Being present is enough.
When I think about what truly supports me during this season, it is not rigid routines or productivity systems. It is gentle structure. Small, meaningful rituals that hold me when the world feels darker and quieter.
One of those rituals is something I return to every Christmas Eve. I participate in an angel procession meditation. Christmas Eve has always felt magical to me. When I was younger, midnight Mass was my favorite service. The music. The stillness. The feeling that something sacred was close.
Later, when I was introduced to the angel procession through my angel ministry program, it felt deeply familiar. As if I had always known this night carried a thinner veil. That angels felt closer. That the energy of love and protection was easier to access.
This ritual does not ask anything of me. There is no striving or effort. I simply receive. I listen. I allow myself to be held.
What it creates is a deeper spiritual connection. It becomes a gift I carry with me into the new year, not as a resolution or intention, but as something embodied. A way of being that slowly weaves itself into how I show up in my life.
This year, that feels especially meaningful. I have been through profound personal transformation, particularly in the last few months. I can feel that I am not the same person I was a year ago. This ritual tends to my magic as a whole. It helps me honor that change with reverence.
Winter used to be a season where I pushed hard. I poured a lot of energy into making homemade candies and cookies to share with family and friends. Those gifts came straight from my soul, and I am deeply grateful for that part of me. Creating and sharing is one of the ways I love. This year, instead of pushing to make everyone happy, I am focusing on the gift of this ritual.
What feels different now is my perspective. I am honoring my seasons with energy that supports me. I recognize that I am in a kind of rebirth. Through reflection and warmth, my perspective is shifting. At times it can feel like a detour, yet I know it is leading me more deeply into my purpose. It is not separate from it. It is part of it.
This is what I mean when I talk about an energetic operating system. Not a strict framework. Not discipline for discipline’s sake. But quiet containers that support us. Structures that hold us gently, especially during seasons of darkness and renewal.
For me, this ritual brings steadiness, faith, and a sense of being supported by something greater than myself.
If you feel called, I have shared the angel procession meditation below so you can experience it in your own way.
As you move through this winter season, I invite you into a gentle question:
What small structure already supports me more than I realize?
Let it sit with you. Winter has a way of revealing what has been holding us all along.