Autumn Manifesto
Within a year where we feel we are standing still, nature is gently shifting at its wonderful comforting pace and in what feels like a blink of an eye we’ve glided into autumn. The pavements outside our home in the city are strewn with yellow and brown leaves, dancing along in the breeze and then stuck tight after the rain creating pops of colour. From my attic window I can see a patchwork of colourful trees and rolling grey clouds. Coats, boots and warm layers are making an appearance and even more comforting cups of tea are being savoured. Autumn I’m so glad you are here.
It feels odd welcoming this latter part of the year during a time of retreat during the COVID pandemic. Each day, week and month has felt slightly like groundhog day, the only thing different has been the shift of the nature I experience in our garden and while we walk around the city and in our parks and spaces in nature. We haven’t had a holiday and a sense of progress this year has felt different. Nature has continued on it’s shift and perhaps this year more than any other I get a sense that people have been able to notice the shifts in nature, notice the impact of the seasons, change the way they experience life and are adjusting to a different pace. The world has slowed and we are noticing what is most important for us. We’re appreciating the simple things, the relationships and our connection with parts of our days. We’ve created new rhythms, rituals and ways of being.
Autumn is my favourite season, one of the two ‘energetic’ seasons (spring being the other), by energy I mean the rapid visible changes in nature. The energy of autumn lifts me into what feels like another realm. A shift into a space where letting go and making a change feels good, echoing what is going on in nature. Something inside me shifts at this time of year and this is my ‘why’ behind autumn being my favourite season. I’ve noticed the power of this season, mapping my journey and noticing how many different shifts, changes and important decisions I’ve taken during at this time of the year. I purposely chose to have our wedding day in autumn because of the energy and what I feel is almost a new start created by the change in the landscape, my word of the year gently begins arriving late autumn and I’ve made decisions to start or let go of things at this point in the year. I even travelled to New Zealand and Australia when it was shifting into their autumnal months and made personal self discoveries during this solo trip of a lifetime. For me autumn it feels like clearing space for a new start, in nature leaves are dropped and trees are left bare. We move inwards and that’s where I find I create space to grow. There’s something about this season and its energy which whips things up inside for me and enables a much needed shift.
If you have been visiting here for a while you’ll know creating a seasonal manifesto is an important ritual of mine within each season. My autumnal manifestos have been powerful, simple and reflective sets of statements and intentions leading me to many different outcomes. It’s not a ‘to do’ list or a ‘bucket list’ to experience the season with (even though I love having these as parts of my seasonal plan). What I have learnt in the 4 years of writing these manifestos is the real need to feel connected in someway to what the seasons in nature are sharing with us at that moment and how I can slow down and appreciate the rhythm of the time of year.
Perhaps it’s because I’m a city dweller and wanting a sense of nature all around me in some way. Or perhaps it’s the joy I feel from the natural world which has been part of me from a young age growing up in West Sussex in a village, playing in the woods, going on cycle rides with my family on Sunday mornings and noticing the beauty of the landscape changing. My love of the planet, and my curiosity of how nature and our landscapes are formed sparked my love of geography as an academic subject through to my masters degree. Connecting to the seasons brings me back to who I am, it enables me to be in flow, and to appreciate the gentle sustained shifts naturally happening in nature.
Creating a manifesto supports me during the season and plays a role in how I experience life. A simple set of intentions guide, support and prompt gentle nudging and direction. The manifesto sits alongside the seasonal plan I create for myself. Sometimes the manifesto connects to metaphors I’ve created for the season, not knowing or expecting they may be part of the season ahead, or referencing something I’ll notice in nature. Writing my manifesto each season brings with it some rituals, a cup herbal tea (normally tulsi for clarity) and a notebook in hand I snuggle on the sofa whilst our little one is napping or early in the morning before everyone is awake. I reflect on the season gone and the season ahead and connect to what I’ve noticed about myself during the time, what are my hopes and what resources I may need ahead of me. Thinking about what nature is doing at this time connects me beyond my home space and enables me to visualise what’s going on outside my front door. I’ll gently take time to create a list of ideas, sometimes over a few sittings so I can have time away. I tend to edit what I’ve initially created to simplify the messages to myself and then select those which feel good as I read them.
My autumn manifesto this year feels wholesome and sits so comfortably.
Clear spaces in your own time
Be comfortable with my inner world
Layer up and ride the storm
Store energy and be prepared
Appreciate the patchwork and pockets of colour
I hope I’ve given you a sense of what you could create for yourself. My tip is to keep it really simple and something that fits who you are. Your manifesto will likely look entirely different depending on what you may need right now and what you notice in nature. I encourage you to check in on it each week or when you can and start to notice what you may find helpful to guide time through the season.