Seasonal Rhythms and Everyday Routines
A few months ago, as winter gave way to the early days of spring, I began to wake up in the very early morning hours. Before the alarm. Before the light. Not the kind of awake where you are only slightly aware you are awake and turn over, close your eyes, and drift off into another dream. But the kind of eyes wide open, body and mind shift into consciousness awake that means there is no turning over and going back to sleep. That ship has sailed.
It didn’t matter if I’d been up late the night before or turned off the light earlier intending to give my body and mind the rest it needed, there I was, wide eyed as early as 4:30am some days, but mostly finding myself awake around 5:00am.
Only a handful of weeks before I could barely get myself going at 7am, or 8am. If I’m ruthlessly honest, sometimes my days began even later. That’s what happens when you don’t have other people in the household who need you to start their day.
Not only was I not rising early in the winter months, I also wasn’t doing very much either. When the calendar rolled over to the new year, I really wanted to make a plan, to have a roadmap for the months ahead. I worked at it, off and on, but it was weeks before I felt like it was coming together. I could not muster the focus or the energy to get a sense of what I wanted for the coming year.
There Really Is A Rhythm To The Seasons
I’m discovering that there really is a rhythm to the seasons; not just for the natural world, but for me as well. Winter has been beckoning me to slow down, to rest, to restore, more and more in recent years. This last winter I felt it more than I had in the past. I felt it physically and mentally. And I finally surrendered to it. As much as one can in this hurly-burly modern world.
I slept late. I ate hearty soups. I read. I daydreamed. And I let projects go idle.
Until I didn’t. Until I found myself beginning to wake up at predawn hours of the morning. Feeling mostly refreshed and bright in my mind, even when I hadn’t given myself my self-defined good night’s sleep.
The world was waking up and so was I. My energy and focus, my interest and motivation, all began to rise. This season, I’ve been paying more attention to this rhythm that seems to be influencing my days. I’ve been trying to lean into it more instead of ignoring it, or pretending it’s not even really a thing.
So here I am, two solid months into the glorious season that is Spring. The fresh, bright greens are fading a bit as their newness wears off. The occasional spring rains have passed. The morning light is illuminating the sky much earlier than a month or two ago. Flowers are emerging on bushes in the hedges and from bulbs in the ground.
Paying More Attention
As I sit here writing, I can hear birdsong, even though the constant low-level hum of urban life tries hard to overwhelm it. Every morning, at the same hour, the birds sing. I like their reliability. I like the optimism their cheery songs evoke in me. I like that I’m awake now to hear it.
I want to pay more attention to the rhythms of the natural world. I want to lay that down as the foundational layer of my vintage kind of life. Slowing down the pace that the day-to-day modern world imposes is challenging. I can find myself needing to hurry up to make an appointment, or over scheduling and feeling the stress. But I think there’s a stronger chance of living a slower life when you begin with noticing that there is a pace and a rhythm already in place that is more measured upon which to build your life.
If that slower pace and rhythm is the pace you set, then the way you build up your daily round, your routines for yourself, your home, your family, they all follow on from there. Routines and daily practices are a beautiful thing. They are the lovely guardrails that keep us heading in the direction we want to be going throughout the day. If you’re like me at all, you’d be careening all over the place without daily routines.
Keeping Pace With The Seasons
If you find your daily wake up time has been subtly shifting, or your energy is different, or you are feeling the urge to tackle a project, the natural rhythms of the season may be calling out to you. What if you paid more attention? What if, instead of working against the natural pull of the season you tried to be more in sync with it? It might be worth trying.
As for me, I’m enjoying the last days of Spring’s wake up, get up, start up energy. I adore Spring. It’s my favorite season. It’s easy for me to adapt to its rhythms.
Perhaps you have a different favorite. Each season is its own unique self. Soon Summer will be here. Already, the temperatures are rising. Summer is a wild woman where I live; wild and intense and languorous all at the same time. She stays up late and gets up early. The days are alternately filled with doing and with nothing. She overstays her welcome, thinking when we’ve said we’ve had enough that we really don’t mean it. One more late night. One more party. One more hot day.
Summer’s rhythms are not my preferred ones. This year, as I pay more attention to leaning into each season’s pace, I’m going to give it my best shot to keep up with Summer’s enthusiasm. But right now, I’m all in for Spring. Early starts. Cool mornings. Birds singing. Quiet as the portal to the day. Refresh the house. Shake off the final remnants of Winter’s hibernation. Revel in renewed creativity and make things.
Today, I think I’ll make a lemon tea cake.
Such a refreshing read. I’m all caught up on your writings and there is a calming effect that happens after each segment. I look forward to the next and the next and so on.
That’s such a lovely thing to say! Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. x