I have welcomed a spacious slowdown this September. I know this is not accessible for everyone right now, so I am especially grateful for what I’ve been able to carve out of my freelancing life. Instead of traveling to visit my beloveds, I decided to practice more patience and stillness because I didn’t want to put any of us at risk. I took the time instead to retreat, reflect, and reset my priorities.
I’ve been thinking about the seasons as we move into fall in New York. As we transition away from the extreme heat of summer towards the coming cold of winter, autumn brings a welcome softening. It is the space for transition as we get cooler mornings, warm sunny days, and chilly nights. Fall equinox was the perfect balance between the sunlight and moonshine, following an especially gorgeous harvest moon honored by the mid-autumn / moon festival, and many spiritual and cultural traditions that celebrate this significant moment of change.
I took the time to think about whether my year so far was in alignment with my dreams and goals. It was certainly a reflection of my choices and habits, but did my choices match my values and desires? I examined various areas — health, relationships, work, creativity, home, finances and spirituality. I realized I had made great progress in some areas (i.e. health) via consistent actions and a holistic investment of resources - time, support, money, attention, care. I recognized that I had too many goals overall (as always!) and so, I was lagging behind in some areas. Instead of pressuring myself to meet all the goals in the original timeframe, I decided to reset my expectations of what is humanely possible while valuing health and joy. So that means a) fewer goals b) make them meaningful c) focus and finish - slow and steady is good enough.
I created a reflection guide for myself to move through this process as I completed the third step of the Intention - Action - Reflection cycle. I offer these questions to you, in the hopes that they are helpful. First, choose a period of time that feels relevant to reflect on. I chose six months since I had last set goals then, and am re-visiting/re-setting for the last quarter of the year. If your natural inclination is to think in 3-month cycles, or more or less, go with whatever seems intuitively right for you.
The Questions —
What seeds did I plant [3-6-9 months ago] that are bearing fruit now?
Are these fruit sweet, ripe, raw, bitter, or overripe? Pay attention to each section of the garden of your life.
How were the seeds watered, fed, and nurtured overall? Was it sufficient and balanced? What would I adjust in future for a healthy harvest?
What needs weeding? What drained the nutrients? What environmental conditions/variables do I need to create protections for?
What needs planting or nurturing next, to ensure my nutritional needs are met as well as my desire for delicious and diverse flavors?
Who do I want to plant, nurture and harvest with? Who do I feel trust, ease, collaboration, and complementary strengths with? Who do I feel seen and supported by?
What am I learning about what kind of farmer/creator/ person I am? How can I work within my natural strengths and cycles?
You’ll notice this set of questions begins and ends with the Self. I believe in the theory of change that begins with the Self as a site of transformation. We not only have the agency, but the power, intuition, and creativity to move from spirit in all the ways that are most aligned with Life - the bigger life current that flows through all the Universe and every living being, throughout our collective consciousness. May you live well.