I hope you are having a calm and centred start to the calendar year. It can be handy to have a designated “start” (and "end") can’t it? A year, a season, a month, a project - a container of time to shape and create within, should you wish to use it of course.
It can also be fun to call upon the energy of the seasons to support our own creative pursuits and growth.
If creating is all about bringing something to life, what exactly is it that’s lighting the way as we sit smack bang in the middle of winter, the season of dormancy? Nothingness on the horizon. Bare branches. Fields full with emptiness. The stage lights are off and the show, as we know it, is sadly over.
But behind the scenes, something we don’t yet know and can’t yet see is brewing. Deep in the darkness of the soil, something magical is happening. Hedgehogs, dormice and other clever little creatures* have mastered the art of slowing down, as an essential and necessary part of life. Roots are replenishing as the leaves and lessons of seasons past weave wisdom into the foundations of the future.
For me, winter is the wisest of all the seasons. A melancholy yet mature spirit that teaches us: to not fear our own darkness or the emptiness of the blank page; to have faith in what we can’t yet see and don’t yet know; that dormancy is a necessary and active part of growth and how every ending delivers us into every new beginning, a little wiser and softer in nature than we were before.
I like to think of January as a very private and sacred month. With the sociability of the festive period behind us, now is the time where we too can travel inward and call upon our own wisdom to light and lead the way forward. If we can just close our eyes and embrace the darkness for long enough, there we will find our dreams and inner knowings, cocooned away from the harsh light (and reality) of day, begging for us to lie down next to them and bathe in their moonlight for a little while longer.
Perhaps winter is inviting us find our own ways of getting quiet enough to really hear the truth and beauty that lies within us, so that we might bring our own wisdom into the light of what we create, how we create and who we are when we create.
Four Ways to Feed Your Creative Growth...
Below are a few winter inspired ideas that you might like to play with. They aren't restricted for use in the winter months alone but like a hot chocolate, I find they tend to taste better when it's cold outside and the windows are all steamed up.
✨ Infuse Winter's Energy into your Creative Pursuits
Which of your creative ideas or projects could do with a dose of winter? Have you been pushing and pressing at something that perhaps needs to lay dormant for a while? Are there some difficult decisions or conversations that require your maturity and consideration? Where is your patience and trust being tested and how can you borrow the pace and faith of winter to soothe things?
🕯️ Connect with your Inner Wisdom
You don't have to sit cross legged on a meditation cushion, roll out your yoga mat or journal for 45 minutes every time you want to connect with your inner wisdom. Although these practices are certainly worth their weight in gold if you find one that works for you. But it is also possible (and more portable) to develop this relationship off the mat too. That is, after all, where we live out the most part of our days. You know when you're watching a film at home and you "press pause" to check in with what's really going on behind the action on screen? Well, where and how can you "press pause" on your own real life action scenes and call upon your awareness and insight to guide you?
🤍 Get Creative with REST
Start by review your relationship with rest. How comfortable are you with doing nothing or taking it slow? How easily can you slip out of the stream of constant doing and drop below the surface into a deeper state where ideas and actions emerge without force? Get creative** with the many ways in which you can play with the practice of rest and watch in turn how rest replenishes your creative endeavours.
🌳 What Stands the Test of Time?
A wise friend of mine shared this idea with me... Ask yourself, "what - about me, my creative practice, my work and my life as a whole - stands the test of time?" Extract the wisdom from your own life experiences. What works for you? How can you expand into that? What isn't working for you? How can you plan and begin to let that go? Advice is out there but wisdom comes from within. And I believe the best kind of growth happens from the inside out.
Thanks for reading. I hope you found something in here that sparks something in you. It's always lovely receiving your replies and hearing about what resonates with you.
With love,
Fi X
Do more of what you love and love more of what you do.
*I used to live with a pet tortoise called George Darwin 🐢. Right now, George is in a fridge in a house in West Norwood, his little heart beating just a few times a minute. He didn’t always hibernate in a fridge. When temperatures were more consistent, he’d spend winter in the cellar. But with the ever-changing climes of record highs and record lows, he needs a little support to keep things steady.
If you feel like you, or someone you know, would benefit from some support this year, I don't have space in my fridge (😉) but I do have space for a few more 1-2-1 coaching clients. I work with a wide range of individuals, across the full spectrum of practical and personal matters that living and working creatively throw ups. Every support package is as unique as the individual. It all starts with an initial chat to find out if we're a good fit. Do send me an email if you'd like to find out more.
**I made this playlist called DEEP REST. It's a 2.5 hour soundscape to cocoon you into a wintery, dreamy, deeply restorative state of being. Enjoy!