Autumn Manifesto
After what has felt like the longest driest summer, Autumn has finally arrived here in the UK. The autumn equinox on Monday 22nd September marked the moment of equal light and dark, and for me the moment in the year when I feel the real shift into Autumn. A rhythm for me at these astronomical marker points of the seasons is to make time either side of the equinox to reflect on the season. I like to use the solstices and equinoxes to shape my year where I plan and reflect. I feel really drawn to these moments where the shifts in light play a key role in creating the rhythms in nature and shift our seasons.
Each season I create a manifesto, a set of phrases full of meaning to help me intentionally focus on what I want to lean into each season. The manifestos I write sometimes hold an obvious meaning when read, and sometimes these phrases hold extra layers of meaning. There are moments when I share more about the intention in detail and sometimes these are written just for me in my journal.
The manifesto helps me decide on a way to be, rather than become a list of goals, a bucket list or a to do list for the season. I do create these within the season but not as part of a manifesto. The manifesto creates almost a big picture view or a set of themes for the season, with lists diving more into the detail. A seasonal manifesto uses themes in nature as a lens to help connect with the season and also to support what life may hold during the months ahead.
Writing and crafting a manifesto connects me to my senses during the season and to moments in nature which, for me, hold a metaphorical meaning I want to hold. I use the words to help intentionally shape what I want to focus on and experience during the season. They help create a way to feel, to be, and what I want to experience and do. I started writing seasonal manifestos in 2016 over on my personal blog lucyellenhill.com and overtime they have helped me cultivate and live a more intentional life, forming an important part of the rhythm of my year. For now they are here on this blog as I want to help share more about cultivating a nature-led intentional life.
Connecting with the wisdom of the natural world is something I feel a real comfort in. Noticing what is happening outside my home in the natural world creates a familiar rhythm. Each year it shifts a little as life evolves and changes, however there is a joy and comfort of coming back to something which feels known and creates a consistency. Over the years there have been changes to the seasons, there have been changes in the weather and the timings of the shifts and changes in the natural world which are concerning.
Every season I write a collection of phrases to help intentionally prompt me for how I want to feel, be and do during the months ahead. Realising how seasons can feel the same but different as life evolves has been one of the most wonderful elements of this personal project. When I look back at the intentions created within the manifesto phrases I remind myself of what that year held for me, decisions I was making, moments I was navigating and what life was feeling like and how I wanted to respond.
There’s something about autumn which has firmly placed it as a favourite season for me. The anticipation for the energy of fresh starts has been ingrained within me as that feeling of ‘back to school’. What I love is the blend of fresh starts and the contrast with a familiar feeling of the comforting parts of the season which return year to year. Perhaps autumn helps me connect to many of my values and my strengths and that’s why I love the season, to feels really me. Autumn has tended to be when I’ve started to learn something new, as well as a time when I connect back to my creative handmade craft projects which seem to stay dormant during the summer months. This autumn feels very different to last year, there’s a grounded feeling, a new normal, and the return to feeling settled rather than the autumns where huge life chapters have been starting to unfurl at this time of year.
My autumn manifesto this year continues the feeling of coming home to myself, creating reminders of what I cherish during the season and creating a forward momentum for the season ahead.
Autumn Manifesto
Gather and harvest seeds of ideas
Bring warmth to create places of comfort
Cultivate a space to add new layers
Encourage my energy to move towards my roots
Navigate the meanders, the ebbs and the flow
You may like to try and create space to write your own manifesto this season. My biggest advice is to not overthink it, create it in a way which is unique to you. Whether you write it, create it out of images you find or even collate a set of music which expresses how you want to be this season.
I love supporting people to connect with the seasons, whether it’s through this blog, my newsletter Notes from the Tree Ring or through coaching, garden design or consultancy through bespoke projects, workshops and thought partnership for small creative businesses, purposeful businesses and medium sized corporate businesses.
Being nature-led in our approaches can help us appreciate, conserve and connect with the shifting seasons and nature even more. With a world where things can feel out of our control and overwhelming, being guided by nature and supporting ourselves in nature-led ways can cultivate more wellness. It can encourage us to elevate our everyday using more offline, analogue and slower ways to be and live.