A Letter on The Summer Solstice
because I miss my party wives.
Today marks ten years of celebrating The Summer Solstice. A tradition that was born out of an interdisciplinary art project I worked on with my dear friend, party wife, directora of my dreams, and soul sister Suzie Philippot.
In 2015 small gaggle of girlies gathered at Colby Farms, the backyard of the plaster bungalow we were renting on the west side of Los Angeles.
We jumped on the trampoline, made flower crowns, made a spontaneous charcuterie board with the most delicious apricot infused cheeses from Trader Joe’s. We drank fresh lime margaritas. I sang a new song I had just written on guitar on repeat. We giggled and made casts of our busts. Bare chests dripping with wet plaster. We laid in the sun and let the casts dry.
It was a return. A remembrance. And a revolution that sparked a new era for me and my besties. 2015 was the year I began living “in cycle.”
Tuning away from the Gregorian calendar and capitalistic quarters of the year, and tuning towards the cycles of the sun and moon, the flow of the tides, the rhythm of the garden.
That was the year I started honoring my actual timing. And centering my own curiosity.
That was the year I started planting seeds. Seeds of inspiration for the art I wanted to make and the seeds of 40 giant sunflowers that would line the stage my boyfriend (now husband) built for me and my friends to dance and sing upon.
2019 was our last banger of a Solstice Party. We maxed out the house with over 70 guests in total. Produced a full-on music festival on that stage with live acts running all day long. A giant bonfire at night. Song circles. Face paint. Community art projects. And the occasional dog fight in the middle of the dance floor. (True story)
When I look back on my time in LA — this Solstice Gathering is the thing that I’m the most proud of. This day of revelry with my friends who are now my family— receiving the medicine of each other’s presence. And celebrating the art that kept us sane during the early years.
Looking back — It’s not the TV appearances, or the celebs I’ve worked with, or the money I made teaching private yoga in the mansions of the Housewives of Beverly Hills (also a true story).
It’s ritual. It’s community. It’s the act of co-creation.
Looking forward — This is what I’m devoting my life to.
To keep bringing us back to the wisdom of the Earth and letting her lead us home.
To keep dropping into the fertile darkness of our hearts and asking the wisest part of ourselves what it wants to create next.
xx
Kate Bone