Summer came bursting, warm and sometimes hot, blooming and bright. A time I promised myself to rest and to be productive. To take it slow, to go outside and enjoy the sun but to also work on my ideas I have for a Velvet Uproar. I didn’t always manage to balance rest and productivity equally but alas, sometimes that is the way it goes. I wished I spent more time walking outside, exploring, working in the garden, waking up early, sitting outside instead of devoting so much time to working on my ‘extended manifesto’ (Not published… yet…). But working so many hours on this also made it possible for me to finish it during the summer, before my work days away from home started again.
And now Autumn is here. The stronger winds bring quick changes in the weather. One minute it rains the next, the sun is back out again, it’s a continuous dance at the moment. For me it is easier to simply move with the flow of this new season, instead of trying to keep up with it.
A season about letting go, releasing, reflecting and descending into myself again, one where I am embracing the growing darkness once more. A season where we move into cooler air, where the soil is moist and fires burn for warmth.
Autumn means time to harvest. The fields of corn in front of where I live have been harvested. A great, green curtain has changed into barren fields with corn stubbles which is accompanied by a gray sky most of the time. I am taking notice of cycles I have been in but unaware of, the swing I have been in where there’s no time for rest and time for myself. Cycles that, at least for me, are unhealthy and unsustainable. I am taking notice of my thoughts, my overly consumed brain by endless stimulation. When I catch myself in this state, it is like I cannot take a deep and long enough mental and physical breath but Autumn is a good reminder to refocus on what I truly need. What works for me and what does not and to live each day accordingly.
Waking up to the cooler air, making a fire, having breakfast and moving with the day and its continuous dance of change reminds me to feel, to take notice of change, to take notice of my needs and to slooow down.
IJsselvrouw 