Let’s all raise a glass to seasonal affective disorder, because even the nihilists among us know that there’s nowhere else to go on the darkest day of the year but toward the light.

We’d be remiss to forget that the winter solstice has always been a time of peak creative potential, or the more legit New Year’s Day of the natural calendar.

There’s the new moon, and then there’s the new sun. Both are characterized by a lack of light and objectivity, which creates a blank slate of potential that’s primed to receive our intentions for the coming cycle. Maybe we’ve all got the sads, but as far as goals and visions go, there’s no better time to hang out with ourselves and contemplate the year behind us — and to crystallize our intentions for the year to come. You know, like a block of ice that’ll eventually thaw in the spring.

Today also marks the Sun’s ingress into the sign of Capricorn, otherwise known as wintry Father Time with a dry sense of British humor.

If Sagittarius was necessary to aid us on our quest for meaning and expand our sense of possibility, then Capricorn is the natural antidote to beliefs without a solid basis in reality, as well as “all possibility, no actual direction or focus.” The mountain goat and the centaur both have hooves, but Sagittarius is more concerned with traversing the lateral reaches of the globe and amassing new experiences. Capricorn would rather focus on reaching the top, or dutifully climbing its chosen mountain peak to a position of authority and prominence.

Capricorn is about doing the work, and it’s about doing things by the book — or at least knowing enough about the book to make an informed decision to deviate from tradition. It’s about not cutting corners and owning up to our sense of maturity and responsibility, because no one ever survived the winter by giving in to the temptation to hide under their covers. Pre-Seamless, I mean.

Though Capricorn is sometimes known for its curmudgeonly, uptight tendencies and its “all work and no play” complex, it’s also way more than just a mountain goat. It’s a sea goat — a SEA GOAT, you guys. Its true form is half goat, half fish, suggesting that it’s heading for the mountain peaks, but it’s coming from a place of deep mystical proportions. Capricorn knows how to swim with the best of the fishes in the ocean of emotion, but it’s also got the equipment to bring all that stuff down to Earth. This is evocative of the fact that we are all souls having an Earthly experience, and that despite our infinite and boundless spiritual stuff, we still need to make hay while we’re here and make a legacy somehow. Of course, there’s nothing better than doing this in a way that fuses our two halves, or brings our work life and our soul stuff into alignment, which is what Capricorn is all about.

One last reminder before we all return to our respective cubicles/studios/tricked-out solstice altars: aspirations are not merely limited to the professional realm, and our self-actualization depends on our ability to walk our talk (and also be impeccable with our talk). But a wry-ass joke is always great for when you’re taking yourself too seriously.

This post was originally published on 12/21/2016 on thedailyhunch.com.