UNRAVELING PERPETUAL SUMMER
This time of the year is so special.
Special and powerful.
And it’s one that a lot of people resist.
Outwardly, I hear people saying things like……
’I feel so depressed when it starts getting dark outside’
‘I hate it when the weather gets colder (and rainier in the UK) and I can’t go out as much’
‘I feel so tired and trapped at this time of year’
For me, these kinds of statements have nothing whatsoever to do with the outer circumstances of weather or seasonal light. They have everything to do with inner stories about good and bad.
Classically we are programmed as children to believe that dark = bad and light = good, but this very simplistic and superficial meta-narrative has extremely damaging consequences for our health and wellbeing.
As my sister and Nature Educator, Kelsey Boast pointed out a few weeks ago, as a society we are hypnotised in the Western hemisphere to reside in perpetual summer. We wait all year for the high energy, long days and dynamic creativity of the summer months and then mourn them when they naturally pass away as we move into Autumn and Winter. Through our over-busy schedules and diaries driven by technology that never switches off, we judge ourselves as failing if we slow our pace for just a millisecond during the darker (and slower) months of the year. Despite the fact that Nature all around us is showing us the correct tempo and rhythm for the seasonal energy.
Our inner identities and stories of ‘success’ and accomplishment fight us every time we attempt to change pace or slow our mental, emotional and physical agenda’s in order to move into a more considered, reflective time of the year and the Earth’s creative energies.
The fact that our planetary system mirrors to us the optimum way of harnessing the powerful forces of life as we move through the wheel of the year, eludes most human’s and the result of this is dis-ease, exhaustion and despair.
SAD syndrome (Seasonal Defective Disorder) is a human made dis-ease that stems from us failing to listen to our body’s natural rhythms and cycles, pushing them beyond their capacity at all times of the day, month and year. More ‘serious’ health challenges such as cancer naturally stem from this perpetual cycle too. They are the natural outcome of us failing to stop, listen and rebalance when our bodies, minds and emotions are screaming at us to do so.
Perhaps much of the outer health, economic, environmental and political dis-ease that we see around us in the world right now stems from our lack of inner wisdom and ability to flex our stories to mirror those of the Earth on which we reside?
As we move through October and into November, we pass through the ancient portal of Samhain on Oct 31st. A time and place when we can ‘restory’ the essence and energy that darkness brings to us and the wisdom that unfolds within when we stop long enough to honour it.
Can you stop and breathe?
Can you create time to reflect and notice where you would like to bring more balance and time into your stories?
Can you allow yourself to rest, wander in Nature and recoup your energy for just a small amount of time to harvest the lessons that this yearly cycle has brought you?
I hope so.
Before it’s too late.
Samhain is also a time when the ‘ghosts of our past’ and the inner darkness that we are ignoring comes to the surface and demands to be recognised. It is a time when we can choose to release old patterns and habits that no longer serve us and make commitments to walk new paths through the forests of our lives.
Commitments that are ultimately made to ourselves.
Commitments that will rebalance and reconnect you to a healthier way of being.
Can you commit to yourself?
I hope so.
Before its too late.
