I’m sure many of us can feel exhausted during this time of year.  The holidays, including Hanukkah and Christmas, are always so rich and full and busy that we can definitely feel overwhelmed.  Now, here we are on the other side of it, taking stock, repairing, resting.

For me, January is typically a time for cleansing, as well as finding truth, and the re-emergence of joy, delivered in the returning of the light.  For Christians, we move into the time on the liturgical calendar known as Epiphany. 

Commonly, we know the word “epiphany” to be used as a description of a visionary moment, when a sudden insight or realization has occurred, making it possible to experience a new vision that can change our understanding of ourselves or our comprehension of the world.

So for me, also, that epiphany, that new insight, the greater light, is a reason for the re-emergence of joy.

From Wikipedia:

The word “epiphany” descends from the ancient Greek ἐπῐφᾰ́νειᾰ (epipháneia), meaning a “manifestation or appearance.” The word is built from the Greek words “pha” (to shine), “phanein” (to show, to cause to shine), and “epiphanein” (to manifest, to bring to light).  In ancient Greek usage, the term often describes the visible manifestation of a god or goddess to mortal eyes, a form of theophany [another word for epiphany].  Early Christians adopted the term to describe the manifestation of the child Jesus to the Magi [three non-Jewish kings], which was understood figuratively as the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles and commemorated in the Catholic Feast of Epiphany, celebrated January 6.

So back to the title of this blog:  what about the re-emergency of joy?  I hope you will indulge me as I write more personally about my feelings of epiphany and the return of the light.  I don’t think I am alone in feeling the pressure of the time of year, sometimes leading us to a natural darkness of the soul.  There is plenty in our world to feel dark about:  wars, political divisions, angers and fears, even violence within our communities.  This is heavy stuff and my heart feels the dark, the worry and the sadness every day.

But there is good news:  the light is literally beginning to come back.  The solstice has come and gone and now things will be turning around, turning back to abundance in the natural world.  Can we work to reflect this time of growth toward illumination?  I believe we must spend these still-dark days focusing on the gradual return to insight and clear thinking, to quietly celebrate this time and our part in it.

Jean Ritchie always wrote that she loved winter for the time it gave her for rest and reflection.  Her song “Wintergrace” was beautifully recorded by Kate MacLeod for her work on “The Jean Ritchie Experience.”  Have a look and listen to this gorgeous video of the song:

Allow yourself to hear and see the beauty and grace of this season, while we await and watch for the return of the light.  May this new year bring every part of abundance to you, and may you find your re-emergence of joy as you find the new light in your world.

And as always, thanks for reading! 
Love and Blessings,

Susie

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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com