A Change of Season: An Eclipse and Solstice

"Can you give me a minute?"

"Hold on… I'm going to take a break – maybe, get some tea."

"Ahhhhh!  Why are these people driving like this?"

"This traffic is just crazy. I don't know how anyone can do this everyday. This parking lot is a mess !"

These are the common sounds of everyday rush. Add the holiday shoppers and crowded holiday parties to the mix, and you have the toxic cocktail called stress. 

Throw in a seasonal change, the Winter Solstice and a Lunar Eclipse – and oh boy talking about an energy shift!

It is inevitable that the holiday will drive many people crazy as they become overwhelmed about throwing parties and buying gifts for people that they don't like or – worse – don't know.

Many times, we only think about others on just the holidays. Kindness and caring about our fellow man and woman should be ubiquitous – not a temporary attitude that lasts for only a few fleeting moments.

There is nothing genuine about extending kindness only for the duration of a season – it's called being fake. You can practically see the energy and time being pushed down the storm drain like a whirlpool with other environmental waste.

Not only is this sad, but it's preventable. As a universal citizen should be sincere when we interact with each other, espeically since manners don't cost anything to extend to the next person.

But, in the midst of the holiday frenzy, that unsettled feeling is more pronounced. You feel "outta sorts." Your insides feel like you're on a fishing vessel on the rough waters of the Bering Sea. Even the life jacket and preserver aren't helping. Forget about seasick pills or Tums-- they won't work because this is something deeper.

In the valley of historic Ellicott City on the Main sits the . You've heard me talk about them a few times and Sage (The Scoop Diaries' stylist) visited the shop as a part of her 12-shop tour. Elena Conaway owns the CU and is an expert on stones, crystals, prisms and energy. She could tell you all about these things and more.

I talked to Elena yesterday to find out exactly what she recommends about calming energy, changing focus and what the end of the year represents cosmically and how people interact with each other.

You've noticed the energy for the past few days leading up to the Winter Solstice. People are driving like they're at a NASCAR speedway competing with Danica Patrick. Try to ask a cashier or a store employee a question and you're lucky if they don't spit prickly bushes and nails at you.

"The energy for the three or four days prior to the solstice and lunar eclipse was disturbing," said Elena. "There were people taking exams and others preparing for the holidays. There was definitely a shift – a change for the better. After the eclipse, it felt like the energy was lighter and there was a positive shift – all under the beautiful light of the moon."

Elena works with crystals, stones and energy all the time. She said that her entire shop is encased between "granite walls with lots of crystals in the store. These pieces and the space are hypersensitive."

There was definitely a change in the air. The weather is bitter and colder – clearing any germs and certainly negative energy. The season changed from fall to winter – leaving behind any unpleasant incidences of the last three months and the eclipse aligned the Earth, Moon and Sun, to transform the universe's energy to a space of renewal and regeneration.

Skip the pause button -- press reset and then start!

With all the crazed shoppers and menacing madness, press the rewind button and re-evaluate your circumstances and where you'd like to be in your life in a few weeks, months or years. Some people think that it's hard to implement improvements and to change old habits.

"Everyone needs a tool to help them get through life and to heal their mind and body… the stones are a physical representation of making that change – something to hold onto," said Elena.

All of these things may sound risky because it's a clean cut from the status quo.

"Omgoodness, I can't do that."

"There is no way!"

"I'm sorry – I can't help you because…"

But none of these things are true! People limit themselves by constantly saying what "can't be done." This has to be one of the worst things (within context) to ever think. What is being said to the mind is that change isn't possible and you're not capable of growing and living in the positive.

The truth is you can rewind your thoughts, discard empty fillers and mind trash. A habit can be built or imploded in 21 days of deliberate action. Do-able. Reachable. Attainable.

"It's all about the mind and once you put it out there that you want to change, then it's there," said Elena. "For example, when the sun shines on a prism, we see many colors – colors of the rainbow. Each color represents something – a positive force. There is something about this that's very purifying."

So this time, really mean it – for yourself. Choose one thing that you really want to change and do it. Work on it for 21 days like you would drink water every day. Make it your ritual of change. Then choose something else.

Negatives will be always be around. People will say and do things that we don't like. Traffic will undoubtedly be jammed. And, days sometimes don't go the way that we planned them. But there is truth to the saying, "it's all how you look at things and handle them."

Whatever works for you, be it a stone, crystal or jotting down your daily ritual and reading it each day – do something!

The universal event of a Winter Solstice, seasonal change and a Lunar Eclipse were definitely signals that those old bowling pins were being swept away and an unlimited supply of new pins are available and ready.

Change is always uncomfortable – undeniably! Excuses are easy and crutches are out there.

But we have a chance to change whatever we want and whenever we want every day.

Create and invent that new space. Care for more than the moment or the season. Make it a lasting ritual.

Happy Holidays to everyone!