The Gift of Sitting in the Compost.

Core Insight

In a world that rushes toward light and celebration, there is deep value in allowing ourselves to sit in the in-between—
in the compost of what’s uncomfortable—
before we rush to cover it all with holiday lights.

The Practice

This year, I noticed people putting up their decorations earlier than usual.
And I get it. Sometimes we all crave a little extra light when times are tough.

But I also noticed something else.

For me, there is power in lingering a little longer in the quiet, darker space before jumping ahead—
in letting the season do its full work.

What It Means to Sit in the Compost

To sit in the compost is to choose presence over bypass.

It means:

• Allowing endings and transitions to be felt instead of skipped.

• Honoring the natural rhythm of the seasons—recognizing that Yule, the Winter Solstice, marks the rebirth of the light after the longest night, not the erasure of the night itself.

• Giving ourselves permission to stay with whatever is breaking down in our lives—old beliefs, uncertainties, grief, quiet moments—so that when we do turn toward the light, it is with a fuller heart.

Why It Matters

When we sit in the in-between, we allow real composting to happen.

We don’t rush past our emotions.
We don’t skip the lessons.
We don’t demand premature resolution.

We give ourselves time to feel the darkness and the stillness, so that when we move into the light, we do so with intention—and with genuine renewal.

A Whisper for Today

I turn toward the light not to escape the dark,
but to honor the journey through it.
I trust the compost of my soul’s winter
to nourish the spring to come.

I don’t want to race so fast toward the light that I never learn from the dark.

When my life is done, I don’t want an untouched heart—
I want a heart made rich by everything it has composted.

Not because I loved suffering,
but because I was willing to live all the way through my life,
not around it.

Compost is the alchemy before the alchemy.
The deeper I let life break down in me,
the richer the soil my transformation grows from.

Originally shared as a Field Transmission within The Becoming Ecosystem, November 28, 2025.