This year has been wildly transformative. As individuals and as a collective we’ve experienced so much this year. Though it can be difficult to clearly see the magic that is at play when we’re in the midst of change, I know in my heart that the transformation we are all experiencing is both powerful and healing. Take a look around you. What has changed in your life? Who have you grown into in this last cycle around the sun? What are you doing now that you could scarcely have conceived of at this time last year? Who surrounds you and what activities fill your days? How have your priorities shifted and what are you choosing to welcome in the New Year? These are some of the questions I am taking time to sit with and ask myself during this time of sacred dormancy.

When we allow ourselves to rest in the sacred pause of a season, we are able to enter the next with a greater ability to actualize the new dreams that are asking to be born through us. In a time when we are, as a culture, so focused on what is new, and on what we want but do not have, intentionally reflecting on the gifts that already surround us is a radical act and one that has the power to transform our world.

Instead of making a wishlist this year, consider gathering with friends and family to write down a list of the bounty of loving people and marvelous things which already fill your days. It’s okay if this list feels shorter or smaller than you’d like it to be. By focusing on what we do have, it grows richer and more fruitful from the attention we choose to place upon it.

Taking this step to appreciate and acknowledge all that we are blessed to experience, helps us to put into perspective any feelings of emptiness that may arise this holiday season. When we give ourselves the gift of truly enjoying what we already have, often our desire for more often falls away, like snowflakes which vanish into nothing as they alight up our cheeks and tongues.

December is a time of integration; a moment to give ourselves full permission slow down and soak in all that we’ve learned and experienced thus far in the wheel of the year. As the year comes to a close, I invite you to drift into a space of slow and steady reflection as you revisit some of the best and brightest moments of Garden Party thus far. I’ve gathered together the offerings which feel most rich and relevant below, and it is my hope that like the best of memories, they have only grown sweeter with time.

And, stay tuned later this month for an announcement about
some exciting changes coming to Garden Party in 2019!

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Thank you for you your kindness, your generosity of spirit.

Thank you for the work that you do, both seen and unseen.

Thank you for showing up, even when it’s hard.

And thank you, most of all, for being here…

With Love,

S o p h i a R o s e