Starting a little earlier tonight. But still not with a huge amount to say. At least not from the outset. Starting to write actually seems to unblock things, and something starts to come out.
A very blustery, rainy day here today. Definitely an Autumn day. Cosy. I like it. I like the cosiness, the jumpers, the soups, the sloe gin, the fireworks, the wind and rain, the smell of wet leaves and earth (“an exhalation arises from the black earth” – James Joyce, Epiphanies).
Not such a huge fan of leaving work when it’s already dark, but there you go. We are seasonal creatures, so it’s good to actually absorb the seasons and roll with them. I know other people say this as well, but we try our best, in the modern world, to live outside of the seasons; we think we’re above nature. We can get strawberries or avocados in any season, and have bright light at two in the morning, but we’re missing something when we try to ignore the outside and ignore how our biology is linked to it.
I think it extends beyond the merely biological, though. And this is something I tend to forget when it applies to my own life: I think it’s fine for us to let our habits and routines ebb and flow with the seasons as well. I tend to be a bit harsh on myself when I start something, keep it going for a month or two, then drop it. But when I’m being a bit more reflective, I realise I should go a bit easier on myself. Naturally we do more outdoorsy things in summer, and are likely to be more active; naturally we’re drawn to the indoors, to more sedentary activities in the winter. It’s great to try to buck the trend and head out into the fresh, cold air for a hike, but generally the pattern is of drawing in, in the darker, colder months; and of course that has knock on effects on the whole of your life. Maybe you see fewer people in the autumn and winter. Maybe you read and knit and vegetate a bit more. Maybe you bake more and eat more.
It’s life-enriching to have your yearly cycle of habits and routines and traditions. We have them collectively anyway: Halloween, Bonfire night (I’m from the UK), Christmas. But it’s a nice idea for you personally to say, ah yes, this is how I move into autumn; this is how I celebrate the transition, and say goodbye to summer and hello to a temporarily slower (perhaps) way of living. To change seasons more consciously, and connect with the changes in the natural world; even if that’s just a park, or a conker tree (horse-chestnut).
In some ways I’m drawn to ideas that are on show in pagan or druidic ceremonies. Primarily for their symbolic values; I’m not necessarily commenting on the belief system behind them. Honouring, symbolically, nature, and our connection to nature; our biological, animalistic part. And in a communal fashion too. This is sort of what Thanksgiving and Christmas were about, before they became a different kind of thing. They at least mostly retain their communal element. But to go outside, as a group, and to symbolically acknowledge the power and “benevolence” of nature, to show gratitude, and communion with the animals also, I think that would actually help and heal a lot of people. They might feel some piece of the jigsaw of happiness and life-satisfaction slot into a gap they didn’t even realise was there.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for this evening.
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