Winter of contentment.

Have you noticed the change in seasons yet?

The days are shorter, the night is drawing in, here in the UK we move our clocks back away from BST this weekend - a strange idea shifting time to our own whims like moving the time agreed by society will really do anything to the amount of time in the day.

This time of year is often a time for folks to get down Seasonal Affective disorder being a common affliction to many as the light dwindles, the weather becomes less welcoming outside and we miss on all the positives of summer. However, I believe that the darker months are not something to dread, to consider bleak or barren, but instead are a time for reflection, reassessment, restoration, relaxation and also of maintenance, preparation as well as celebration.

Our ancestors, who lived without the multitudes of distractions and modern conveniences that allows us to keep the dark away, would take advantage of these longer nights to gather together, tell tales around the fire, repair equipment and clothing, maintain their social connections within their group and feast.

Nowadays we seem to try to live in a perpetual summer state, always busy, rushing from thing to thing with the energy from the summer firing us on, I am of the opinion this is unsustainable and is a key factor in the burnout many folks go through- I'm guilty of this myself in the past charging full steam at everything and anything, thinking the energy will keep me perpetually moving rather than coming crashing down without any energy whatsoever.

Whilst we are still in Autumn here in the Northern hemisphere and I am making the most of the changing colours of the trees, the hint of freshness in the morning and evening and the slowing down as nature lets go of what no longer serves it or no longer needs to be carried moving on, I am already thinking of the coming winter. Asking if I will be metaphorically huddling round the fire bemoaning my lot or if I will be enjoying the pause and breathing room.

My intention is to be enjoying the pause and breathing room. To reflect upon the last few months ( it's been a rollercoaster!), to restore myself with gentle evenings with my family, to celebrate with good food and cheer, to reassess what I am working on and towards, to relax in nature without the need to be productive all of the time, to maintain myself with time spent doing the things I enjoy with the people I love.

This doesn't mean I won't be working on things during the darker time of the year, what's done in the dark is seen in the light, laying plans, working on projects, developing direction are all things that are still there and need to be included in the season, but these will be discussed in a later article.