Honoring the Seasons of Life
Last year, I burnt myself out. Day in and day out, working on everything — myself, my relationship, my path, my business, my body… I mean Every. Facet. Of. Life. I was running on fumes and stress hormones until I totally crapped out. Then, in came the shame, the sadness, and the ultimate winter.
When you’re in the thick of winter, with the brown sludgy snow, the gray skies, nature’s death surrounding you, and the bitter coldness, life can be pretty… harsh. It also highlights absolutely everything our culture is so terrified of — stillness, non-production, rest, integration.
My body actually began to shut down. I was forced into a period of rest and I felt freaking awful. I felt so much shame, fear, and actual panic about slowing down. Seeing nothing I planted coming into fruition. Everything felt barren and like I failed at everything. Then, one day after trying to push myself too hard, a favorite teacher of mine introduced me to some pretty intense truth.
We live in such a summer-obsessed culture. Everything is booming and blooming, you are always on, producing, and immediately seeing the results. Whenever the natural flow of life happens, and we go from our own personal springs and summers to our falls and winters, we can feel like we lost, or fucked up. What we are actually doing is getting stronger.
The thing about winter is there is so much going on underneath the ground. Roots are taking form, the soil is nurturing beneath the surface, and we need that time to have strong, healthy, crops. If we don’t honor the winters, the barren times, the times of darkness and rest, then we miss the magic here. The winter is the mystery wherein our true power forms.
After my summer happened and my business was born, I needed the fall to shed what wasn’t working — dated beliefs, ideas and expectations of what should be. I was not honoring that time — I was addicted to the expectation of summer. Then, fully embracing winter turned out to be exactly what I needed to return to my creative fire. Now I’ve been experiencing my spring — planting the seeds for growth from a place of passion and pleasure.
Picture yourself honoring the times of rest, when things are at a lull. Instead of panicking, use winer to your advantage by actually resting. Giving yourself what you need. Healing, integrating, processing, reflecting. Seeing blessing and not failure. Bear in mind, these seasons may not correspond with the seasons outside, and they may be longer or shorter. However these seasons show up — honor them.
Life is cyclical. We are forever flowing, growing, shifting, ebbing, transitioning, changing, dying, and being reborn.