“The party’s not over ‘til I hear you say ‘we’re going home.’”

-Jordana, The Party’s Not Over

• Take a winter hike at Fort Snelling State Park - There are beautiful trails for hiking and cross country skiing as well as a Dakota memorial. (parking is $7)

• Watch the 2023 British Arrows Awards at The Walker -Throughout this month, you can watch the yearly award show in person or online. “With brilliant creativity, wry wit, and emotional twists and turns, the British Arrows Awards is a perennially entertaining Walker holiday tradition celebrating the latest creative trends in moving image advertising.” (tickets start at $18)

• Warm up at Watershed Spa’s communal baths - Engage in a ritual that involves a self guided hot soak, steam, sauna, cold plunge, and time to rest and restore with hydration, then repeat as many times as you would like. ($54 for 3 hours)

Archetype of the Month - from Liana

Death

“Life is a series of passages. In every passage there is a death of some sort, the death of naïveté, the death of a dependency, the death of an understanding of self and world.” - James Hollis, What Matters Most

Accepting the inevitable slowing down brought by a cold winter, the stillness and the sadness, can allow us to open to the potential of the death archetype: detachment, release, letting go. We can allow death as an aspect of life, acknowledging that parts of self die, and need to be grieved, for new growth to emerge.

Writers, thinkers, and mystics (to name one, Pema Chödrön) have spent countless pages exploring death– many worth reading! However, because death opens us up to the rearranging of meaning, poetry might offer us a uniquely resonate feeling. I recommend A Glittering, by Sarah Manguso, to consider the false duality of significance and nothingness, or of life and death. 

Image Credit: Painting by Gustav Klmit. Death and Life. 1908

Article - The Color of Death

“It was just such a beautiful color, and so accessible. It was hard for painters to resist, even when they knew it would render their works mortal. To use verdigris was to accept that your lovingly rendered scene would one day sour. The bright cloaks would turn dark, the soft grass would fade, the foliage turn. But such is the nature of cloth and plants and paint. Such is the nature of beauty.”

Check out this article about the history of the color verdigris, the color of patinated copper, which explores themes like natural change, duality, and the beauty of impermanence.

We hope that you’re staying warm throughout this often frigid season, and finding meaning in turning inward toward coziness, community, and reflection. Feel free to be in touch about what you’re up to, the books, podcasts, and other media you’re enjoying, and anything else you feel like sharing.

Please let us know if you have questions about therapy at StarHaus or want to learn more about what we offer!

Thanks for reading!