My Seasonal Manifesto | Winter 2020
Four years ago my word of the year was Awaken. Leaning into my word allowed me to awaken something within me and express part of myself that had been longing to surface. During January 2016 I decided to awaken more of a connection to the seasons and created my first seasonal manifesto. From a list of ‘would like to dos’, the concept of creating a manifesto morphed quickly by the summer into more thoughtful simple intentions for the season. My seasonal manifestos have since then become a set of intentions of how I want to connect with the season. Shaped around the feeling of the season and what I was noticing in nature, they have enabled me to find a way to connect and be more inspired by the season and nature. My manifestos encourage regular personal reflection and help me notice things going on in my life.
We are nature. We have seasons in our lives too and by connecting more to the seasons, nature and the rhythms, we can discover the essence of living in line with nature. The simple need to conserve energy and hibernate in winter, the desire to lean into the feelings of growth in spring, to use the energy of the summer to make progress, and the shift of letting go in the autumn ready to embrace the next change, provide a gentle backdrop to my life. I’m still learning to connect, I see each season as another chance to enhance the way I do that.
During the cusps between the seasons I start noticing the world around me change. The vegetation in our city changes, colours alter intensity and range, the weather and temperature alters, and the way I feel inside begins to shift too. I capture my thoughts and I reflect about what it could mean for me and how can I reflect it in my life. Writing a manifesto and holding it close by during the season adds a layer of mindful appreciation to each day, each week and each month. My connection to the manifesto shifts too and it helps me shape the year in a very different way. I feel a deep connection to the slow, gentle and sustainable connection to the pace of life reflected in nature. Last year I started to connect each seasonal manifesto with my word for the year. Rather than having a word sitting in partial isolation I connected my word and my seasonal manifestos in a personal way, by writing intentions that challenge me beyond a comfort zone, to establish new habits and ways of doing things.
Winter is a season that falls across the end of one calendar year and the start of another for us in the Northern Hemisphere. It really is a special season and one that invites clarity, kindness and after the festive season, space. The clarity of the empty landscapes from vegetation, the kindness we invite into our lives to rest and hibernate, and the space of time to do all of those things in the way we choose.
My word last year was Bloom and my word this year is Light and so bringing in both words into my winter manifesto felt an interesting place to reflect from. For the Winter season ‘Bloom’ brings a connection to the winter flowers, berries and a connection to bulbs being planted in someway, there’s a shift towards an inward feeling of being in bloom as I process the year ending and a new one beginning. ‘Light’ brings another dimension, there are precious few hours of light during the day in the winter months and the shift into more light as we move through the season.
I wrote my winter manifesto in mid December and have let it sit with me until now to share with you. Here it is…