Today is the summer solstice, the day of the year with the longest hours of daylight, and those in England of a pagan heart are celebrating at ancient sites such as Stonehenge.
Of course, in the southern hemisphere it is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, so my comments cannot claim to be global. I can justify my blatant northerly bias in two ways:
Firstly, I find myself north of the equator today, so it feels natural to write from this perspective. How often, though, do we overlook the fact that our thoughts and feelings are conditioned by our viewpoint, our perspective! Then we cause all sorts of trouble, assuming our opinions to be of an absolute nature when they are actually relative. We so easily forget that our standpoint is no more, or less, valid than anyone else’s.
Secondly, by far the majority of the human population live in the northern hemisphere, so if I have to pick one hemisphere to address, I guess it might as well be the north. (Actually, in most situations I find my emotional response tending to side with minorities, with the underdog. I am a rebel at heart!)
There is a simple reason why many more people live north of the equator than south of it. Most of the land is in the north. But once again I notice that my perspective is relative. If most of the land is in the north, then most of the ocean is in the south. So my northerly bias is coming from the perspective of a land-dwelling being. If I lived in the ocean, I would probably be singing a very different song.
So to the whales and dolphins out there, and to any other beings who find themselves in the south, I greet you with a heartfelt “Happy winter solstice!”
