Living with the Seasons
Nature operates in cycles, with each season proffering its own unique energy and rhythm. — spring brings with it a feeling of growth and renewal. Summer is vibrant and fun. Autumn’s harvest and cool weather transitions us from the outside to inside in both our physical and mental spaces, and winter encourages rest and reflection. But as we experience the world today, most of us are disconnected from the natural rhythms of life. We move at a relentless pace, regardless of the season, driven by work schedules and social commitments. Most of us spend our adult lives fighting against these natural cycles, pushing through life with continual forward momentum. What if, instead, we tuned into these cycles? Life will become more harmonious and balanced as you learn to align with the natural flow of the seasons.
SUMMER: A SEASON OF VIBRANCE AND ACTIVITY
Summer is the season characterized by its warm, long days, providing an abundance of energy and time for activity. It’s a season for prioritizing socializing and outdoor fun. It is a season in which many of us should consider dialing back our professional pursuits.
Over the past few weeks, I felt an internal tug to do more, hearing the voices in my head telling me I am underperforming. What I did next might be counter to what is expected - I made the conscious decision to clear my calendar as much as I could, I donned my floppy sun hat, and headed out to the garden where I have spent much of my time lovingly tending to my plants. It has been the perfect medicine. What I have needed more than anything is not to double down on productivity, but rather, I needed time to unplug and spend some time in solitude. The world seems to know what we need and will present it when we slow down enough to see it
The world seems to know what we need and will present it when we slow down enough to see it.
I have emerged from these few weeks refreshed and refueled, full of ideas, and ready to serve and create once again.
Each season brings with it its own opportunities for growth, reflection, and rejuvenation. So today I share with you 5 simple practices that will help you live with the seasons. Through them, you too might experience your own positive shift in your health, your happiness, your work life, and your relationships.
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR LIVING WITH THE SEASONS
Simmer in the Seasons: Many of us look forward to the transitions between seasons because we are struggling day to day, and the thought of the next seasonal change is enticing – it is predictable, yet new – the transition offers the promise of a change in our day-to-day lives. But it is temporary, and when the novelty of the change of the season wears off, we start to feel a bit little dull, and maybe a bit sullen. If you don’t already, schedule time to embrace what each season has to offer and participate in it to its fullest extent. Take the time to build a fire in the winter and sit by it with a good book and warm beverage. Watch the tree outside your bedroom window form new buds on naked branches and emerge as new leaves in the spring. Watch the bees pollinate flowers as you garden in the summer. If you make it a point to find the pleasures in each moment of each day and tailor them to match the seasons, you might notice you feel more content, no longer desiring to rush through the season, no longer eager to step beyond today, and no longer longing for the possibilities the next season might bring.
Ignore the Commercial Influences: We quickly grow tired of what is current and get excited for the promise of change that comes with each new season. And businesses know this! They have their shelves lined with products introducing the next season months in advance. I encourage you to experience these changes in a new way. The annual advertisement of the pumpkin spice latte used to mark the end of my summers as I welcomed the literal taste of fall. These days I promote a less artificial approach. Pay attention to the wilting plants in your yard. Watch the leaves change each day from a verdant green to yellow and orange, and embrace the new chill in the air in the evening. Embrace each transition with a warm welcome, honoring the passing of each season by expressing gratitude for all the meaningful experiences gifted to you over the past few months and the resulting changes in yourself as you move forward a bit wiser. Seasonal transitions are far more meaningful when they are no longer commercially driven and instead are largely experiential and, in some ways, perhaps even spiritual.
Take Time to Observe Nature: Spend time outdoors and pay attention to the subtle changes as each season progresses. Noticing these changes allows you to feel more connected to the natural world, and that, in turn, brings with it unlimited opportunities to improve your physical, mental, and even spiritual wellbeing. You don’t have to live in a secluded area to experience the wonder that nature has to offer. There is so much to witness in your own back yard or a local park. Stop to smell the roses, and watch the bees, the rabbits, and even the bugs. Stepping out of our world for a few moments to pay attention to theirs brings about a sense of wonder and calm. It can be grounding and has the potential to shift the tone of your whole day.
Eat Seasonally: This is difficult to do shopping exclusively at large grocery stores. I did not learn about what foods grow well in my region or in which season until I started supporting our local farmers by visiting farm stands and markets. Purchase a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership. Volunteer at a farm. Family-owned U-Pick farms are an exceptional experience to be had alone or to share with your friends and loved ones. You will have a hard time purchasing berries in the winter after experiencing the delicate sweetness of a freshly picked berry in the summer. Even those purchased in a large grocery store in season have been transported from a farm across the country or multiple countries and have had to be picked and processed differently to withstand the packaging and travel. Eating locally and seasonally will elevate your experience with food in a way that may have you adjusting your standards in the future. It is a wonderful way to connect with the season, with nature, family and friends, and your community.
Adapt your Routine to Align with the Season. It might be as simple as waking up earlier in summer and going to bed earlier in winter. If you slow down and pay attention, you will come to learn which months and seasons you find yourself in a more creative and productive state versus needing to turn inward for rest and to focus on personal growth. You may even find certain times of the day are better for reflection versus creativity or productivity, and that time of the day may shift with the seasons as well. It is perfectly okay to let routine activities fall away during certain seasons because if they are important to you, they will quickly return at the start of the next season. Give yourself permission to adjust your dials in your routines to what feels right, including for work and even with family, and allow them to ebb and flow with the seasons, trusting the process and learning your cycles. This is the essential piece to learning how to move through our daily lives fluidly rather than fighting against the current. And through this practice, you will transition into a more peaceful way of living.
Each of these practices is simple, but not necessarily easy. They require an investment in time and energy, but this is an investment worth making. In return you will be awarded with enriching experiences for the heart, mind, and soul. By embracing the unique energy and rhythm of each season, we can create a more balanced, fulfilling, and connected life. As we align our lives with the natural world, we find that we are not only more in tune with nature, but also with our inner selves.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Living a frantically paced lifestyle with constant attachment to technology narrows our attention and shifts it inward in unhealthy ways; to really live with each season requires us to shift our attention outward and take in all the beauty provided in that moment. That might mean that we need to mindfully depart from the unnatural and dysfunctional flow of society and march to the beat of our own drum, a practice that is often easier said than done.
This isn’t to say our lives aren’t enhanced by technology or there shouldn’t be busy seasons in life, but we need to make it a point to balance the busyness with a quieter, slower pace. And what that looks like is going to be unique to you. One person may not need to craft their life around a slower pace as much as the next. How much quiet and solitude you need for peace and contentment is for you to decide; but for too many, the concept of quality down time has been lost. We spend too much time hacking ways to create more time and then we fill it with more productivity, more shopping, more scrolling, with too much exposure to messages telling us we need to have more, to do more, in order to be more.
We spend too much time hacking ways to create more time and then we fill it with more productivity, more shopping, more scrolling, with too much exposure to messages telling us we need to have more, to do more, in order to be more.
Time has become one of our most valuable assets. You may or may not have the choice in whether you work full time, or part time, or earn an income at all, and you may not have as much flexibility in your schedule as others; but what is important is that we strive to carve out some time for ourselves and endeavor to make the most of that time, focusing on quality over quantity. Paradoxically, it is the art of doing less that gives us a greater sense of control over our life.
So today I encourage you to reflect on not just the season in nature, but the season of life you are in. Give yourself permission to slow down and embrace something in your life that you have perhaps been neglecting, and if you can, do so in such a way that embraces the richness of summer.