Nature calls us to slow down

I have sat down to write a blog many times this year, but just haven’t slowed down enough to finish one. I have been writing other things. I have created workshop content and website text, but nothing for my two lonely blog readers! I know they have been waiting patiently for what happened after I wrote about my experiment with leaving social media.

The good news is, that experiment changed my ongoing relationship with social media. The bad news is that I haven’t really slowed down the way I hoped I would. It’s okay, I don’t really want to slow down anyway. At least not in the Spring and Summer when the bright days and long hours of light beckon me to work more, play more and be out in the garden.

Now it is Autumn and slowing down starts to make sense. The garden is quieter and the plants are preparing for Winter slumber. The trees are giving their last brilliant display of beauty before, they too, slow down and let go. Turning the focus inward, to the roots beneath the soil.

I am about to head to Ireland for the first three weeks of November, to symbolically turn my focus inward, to the roots within. I will teach with my friend and colleague Rosaleen Durkin and then settle into my Castlebaldwin cottage for some retreat time and writing. I can imagine myself sitting by the warm fire in a cozy chair with a cuppa and my journal. It will be a time of intentional slowing down and working on my writing projects. I am sure I will take walks in the rain and observe what’s happening in nature.

Once I return I will be ready to step into Winter reflection and quiet, even as the world around me begins to buzz with holiday energy. In December I will be off to Esalen for a workshop and more time visiting friends and in retreat on the California coast.

I have a feeling that the call to create in 2020 will be strong. The best way I know to prepare is to slow down to the pace of nature and allow the space for reflection and connecting with my deeper roots.

How are you choosing to step into the change of season? Are you slowing down or winding up? Are you willing to allow the space for some new delights to begin to take shape in you? I can’t wait to compare notes!