Happy 2nd Pandemic Holidays…
I hope this finds you not too overwhelmed and frazzled about the year end. May you have ease in your final exams, may you smoothly wrap up the end of your year, may you not get too swept up in the mindless consumerism of the season and may you marvel in the many other cultural traditions that happen at this time of year aside from Christmas.
As we descend into the deep folds of the winter season, we take this dark, heavy, yin season to rest, reflect and concentrate our energies and resources in future preparation for spring. This is the ideal time to consume cooked, warm, nourishing foods that “stick to your bones”, keep your feet warm and soak yourself in hot baths. With darkness coming earlier, go to bed earlier, much like the natural world tucked into the long sleep of hibernation.
According to the classic texts of The Huang Di Nei Jing (“The Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor”), contains some of the oldest teachings about winter:
“During the Winter months all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period, just as lakes and rives freeze and snow falls. This is a time when yin dominates yang. Therefore one should refrain from overusing the yang energy. Retire early and get up with the sunrise, which is later in Winter. Desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued, as if keeping a happy secret. Stay warm, avoid the cold, and keep the skin covered. Avoid sweating. The theory of the Winter season is one of conservation and storage. Without such practice the result will be injury to the Kidney energy. This will cause weakness, shrinking of muscles, and coldness; then the body loses its ability to open and move about in the Spring.”
This month’s care package contains a selection of glimpses into other parts of the world through radio and film, a luminous soundtrack to practice hygge to, some meaningful holiday gift suggestions, a nourishing collection of soups and some important resources for our street community if you happen upon anyone in need this month.
We wish you plentiful warm drinks, quiet downtime with fascinating books, swaddling your feet in wool socks, meaningful holiday celebrations with your chosen family and to treat those you love with valuable experiences and not too many material things.
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~John Boswell
- This is the PERFECT time to tune into how the rest of the world celebrates their respective holidays and Garden Radio will transport you there!
Radio Garden is a non-profit Dutch radio and digital research project developed from 2013 to 2016, by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, by the Transnational Radio Knowledge Platform and five other European universities. By bringing distant voices close, radio connects people and places. From its very beginning, radio signals have crossed borders. Radio makers and listeners have imagined both connecting with distant cultures, as well as from ‘home’ from thousands of miles away. - Your ambient hygge soundtrack for December:
sigur rós: tónandi liminal
Stars of the Lid – The Artificial Pine Arch Song
Aphex Twin – Rhubarb
Sigur Ros – Nothing Song
A Winged Victory For The Sullen – Atomos – Paris Flèche d’Or - As the weather gets crappier, the Greater Victoria Public Library has all your indoor activities covered.
Get ebooks, audio books, and magazines delivered straight to your computer, phone, or tablet. And you can get a library card online now as well. - Some choice documentary picks from CBC Gem:
“There are no fakes”, a painting, thought to be the work of an iconic Indigenous artist, leads the rock star who buys it into the tragic and brutal world of an art forgery ring in Canada’s far north.
“My childhood, my country: 20 years in Afghanistan“, award-winning filmmakers, Phil Grabsky and Shoaib Sharifi present a real life epic of boyhood and manhood, filmed across 20 years in one of the most embattled corners of the globe.
“Freedom Swell”, This powerful documentary highlights an unique surf program designed to empower African Nova Scotian youth to connect with the Atlantic ocean and discover the healing power of water. - Looking for holiday gifts that also make a positive impact in the lives of others?
Here are some suggestions:
Megaphone Magazine’s, 2022 Hope in Shadows Calendar, every fall, Megaphone vendors offer you a peek into their world through Hope in Shadows. The photos featured in Hope in Shadows are taken during an annual photography contest where vendors use single-use disposable cameras to capture images of their communities. The top photos are selected by a community jury, vendors and supporters, and published in the award winning Hope in Shadows calendar, which is sold on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria by Megaphone’s low-income vendors. Vendors buy each calendar for $10 and sell them for $20, keeping the profit.
Mustard Seed Coffee Co., support the Food Rescue program at The Mustard Seed from the safety of your own home. Practice social distancing while enjoying delicious coffee, delivered right to your front door.
All proceeds go to support individuals in need across our communities.
Our H&H Swag Sale is still ongoing with all proceeds being donated to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Locally-made ceramics, prints and totebags are still up for grabs! - Please support grassroots orgs who are on the ground supporting our street entrenched community with culturally-relevant and urgently needed resources. If it is within your means, either financially and/or to volunteer, find out more about the Indigenous Harm Reduction Team and Poverty Kills.
OR
If you encounter someone in need to shelter or other assistance, The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness has compiled a list of Emergency Weather Indoor Shelter Locations as well as a Street Survival Guide. - A few soups on heavy rotation at Christina’s home:
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Curried Lentil, Coconut & Tomato Soup
Good in the Simple’s Italian Wedding Soup
Jo Cooks’ Mulligatawny Soup
