Years ago, fresh out of Uni, I went travelling for a year, West around the globe chasing the summer. One whole year of sunshine with no gloomy winter to contend with felt so enticing. Half way into the trip, I was heading to Australia just as the UK was heading into winter, and I found myself longing. To my surprise, I found myself yearning for rain and the respite a cosy, cold, winters day invites.
There is so much nourishment and richness to be experienced from the seasons, if we attune to them. In a capitalist world, one which requires us to always be ‘switched on’ and always productive without adaptation throughout the year, the seasons can feel extra challenging. It also leads to the false illusion that we too have to always be productive and blooming, in order to have value.
The apple tree can not bloom and bear fruit, without the deep, still, rest of winter. The daffodils, that are adorning gardens, lanes and roadside banks at the moment, wouldn’t have returned to bloom without deep rest in the nourishment of the earth, and the energy and warmth of the early Spring sun.
Just as it is with the natural world around us, all areas of our own lives experience cycles of some kind too. The daffodils and the apple trees can’t force a bloom, and neither can we. Instead, we can choose to honour whatever season we find ourselves in, nourish our inner foundation, and allow a bloom to emerge naturally, when the time is right.
Remembering this brings me such relief in moments when I am in a creative or social ‘winter’. It reminds me there’s nothing wrong, it’s simply a cyclical call to slow down, rest and tend to my roots; then give space for reemergence when energy returns.