The Alchemist Diaries

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Today is the Winter Solstice, and last night we experienced the New Moon. An extra dark and long night paved over us, so now we must make way for the return of the sun and brighter days. Even as we experience a form of “dark ages” today complete with unprecedented political unrest, threats of artificial intelligence, and a decline in our quality of modern life, it is important to keep hope because hope is the driver for change, especially when we take active steps.

Yule reminds me of this transition from darkness into light. I appreciate how Aurora Kane describes the season in her book The Kitchen Witch Handbook:

“It is a time of duality: of light and dark; of contemplation and anticipation; of giving and receiving; of celebration and offerings; of welcome and letting go; of death and rebirth.”

Although Autumn is my favorite time of the year, I enjoy prolonging the festive seasons by creating a clean and cozy homey space laden with natural decorations, comfort food, and hot mulled beverages. And so, I have a recipe for manifesting happiness: The Three C’s:

• Cleaning House
• Comfort Food
• Crafting

Cleaning House

Just before the Winter Solstice, I thoroughly clean the house, declutter, reorganize. and plan new goals. It is akin to painting a canvas white and starting new.

Before we decluttered our house, I used to walk through the front door and feel uneasy. I could not explain why until I noticed that despite everything being technically clean, every surface had a collection of stuff on it. The cabins overflowed, bookshelves seemed close spilling books, the mail basket could fall over any day, and the coat rack appeared more coat than rack. My professional work as an academic is already overstimulating, so coming home to anything of this nature only aggravated me further.

Clutter and messes actively distress the brain. We can only visually process a certain number of things at a time; the more disorganized an environment is, the more stress it puts on our receptors.

Even though it is cold, we open the windows briefly to allow the flow of fresh winter air. We deep clean by opening every storage container, drawer, and unit and remove and discard the old belongings; we reorganize the belongings we wish to keep; and we scrub down the house with a good dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, and laundry session. Then, we close the windows (because gas is stupid expensive) and burn some clarifying incense. This year, we burned sandalwood.

To finish the cleaning session, the house is decorated for the season with a Christmas tree, hollies, synthetic plants dusted with silver glitter, LED lights, and doorknob bells. Everything has a place, and is strategically placed.

We can settle back into our clean environment, and revel in the new wave of positive emotions.

Comfort Food

This is the season for good handcrafted food. I get to whip out the big teal Dutch oven and spend a morning chopping produce, searing meats, and bubbling broths to make a dinner that lasts for several evenings.

One of our favorites is our Pumpkin Chicken Noodle Soup, which we typically enjoy using homegrown herbs, squash, and corn, but once winter strikes we enjoy local produce or whatever conventional produce we can find that is reasonably priced.

Here in America, grocery prices are currently up around 36% since 2015, so in our house we have made it a rule to pretty much cook exclusively at home. It is not always the most convenient way to eat since my husband and I both work full time with longer hours now, but it has been much better for our grocery budget, and we have the added priceless quality time of cooking together and eating together. We both agree that despite the struggle, it is the life to be together and eat together.

Other comforting foods we enjoy are Chicken and Dumplings, Bison Meatball Stew (a massive treat), and Red Velvet Cheesecake.

Throughout the season, we mull apple cider with cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole allspice, cloves, and green cardamom. And, since pumpkin is still in, cold evenings are made cozy with Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate.

Crafting

Finally, no happy season is complete without carving out time to make something. I am almost always in the mood to craft, however, lately the joy has been sparked by crafting simply for fun, and not worrying about what I can post online as quickly as I can to earn a meager few dollars from ads.

This is the time to make something as a reminder that we are human. We are unique. We are creative. We are original. It is time to experiment, enjoy the process, and love the outcome.

Once our homes are clean and our bellies full, it is time to settle down in the most comfortable space in our homes and create something. For me, right now it is knitting socks, which I started back in October. I am enjoying knitting low stakes socks, knitting up a simple pair and getting lost in oceans of colorways. I am also making my first Amigurumi using a book my brother got me last Christmas: A Crochet World of Creepy Creatures and Cryptids by Rikki Gustafson.

Creating takes the edge off of stress by giving us meaning beyond societal expectations. No, I do not want to make things and sell them for money. I want to make things and be left alone, then share them with anyone who will love them.

With all of these “Three C’s” combined, I am most happy.

What about you? Tell me what makes you most happy in the comments below.