My Autumn Manifesto 2026 | Living intentionally through the autumn season
Writing a manifesto every season is both an intentional and grounding activity I consciously make space for throughout the year. Writing a seasonal manifesto around the equinoxes and solstices has been part of my life since 2016, it’s a creative practice I look forward to, creating a regular and comforting rhythm weaved into my year.
Seasonal manifestos are a practice I’ve created to set seasonal intentions which help me shape how I want to live my life. Consciously connecting at the solstices and equinoxes with my hopes and intentions, checking in with myself on how life is feeling, and writing intentions and guiding statements creates a soulful rhythm in my year.
At the Autumn Equinox I reflected on the summer season and what I wanted to feel and experience during one of my favourite seasons ahead. For the few days before and after the equinox I started to write my autumn manifesto to check in. I choose to make time to pause and to reflect, to notice what is going on outdoors in nature, and to think about the themes which seasonally connect to parts of my life.
Making intentional space to write a manifesto allows me to create a moment in the year to reinvigorate the hopes I had dreamed of at the Winter Solstice the previous year. These are my intentions rather than goals or objectives. When life feels full, having a manifesto I’ve written from the heart, which is uniquely my own, creates a personal guide for my life during the season and acts as an anchor I can return to for direction, not a list of to do's.
If you feel you could benefit from having a reminder of the life you are creating and wanting to create, a seasonal manifesto can help. Having a seasonal manifesto feels like I can focus more on cultivating an intentional way to live, which is shaped by me, and is something I can return to remind me of what I wanted in the season and in the life I am growing. Shaped by themes I can see within the season it also helps me connect with the natural world so I can feel more connected to the changing rhythms.
What is a seasonal manifesto?
A seasonal manifesto is the practice of writing a collection of statements which bring together what you are noticing is happening in the natural world, using these as metaphorical themes, and then creating a set of intentions and a future vision for how you want to experience the season ahead.
Created around the solstices and equinoxes, a manifesto helps connect you with your intentions, and helps create a reminder of how you want your life to feel. It’s a practice I started and created in 2016 and over the past 10 years the process has evolved to what it is today.
Writing and thinking about your own manifesto is a powerful, insightful and meaning-filled process which can help you open up your mind to possible opportunities, connect with your hopes and thoughts about the season ahead, and can hold room for flexibility. Each part of the manifesto creates a gentle guide and a reminder of the feelings you want to have during a season and how you could get there.
I choose to think about how each part of the manifesto connects with my senses so I can bring it to life as I experience the season. Writing seasonal manifestos allows me to make intentional space to focus on my intentions, it layers meaning aligned with the natural world, and opens up possibilities to allow my mind to be expansive and widen my thinking around how I want life to feel. It supports my mindset and what is happening in my life in that specific moment.
Why I create seasonal intentions in the autumn
Autumn in the northern hemisphere arrives in September, in amongst a month where the school year begins, people return to normal work routines and the final quarter of the year approaches.
I enjoy the sense of a fresh start which comes with the arrival of autumn, it feels like the time to gather ideas which have been growing in the summer and start to move towards making changes or bringing ideas to life.
Autumn can be filled with the increasing amount of darkness as the days shorten, temperatures fall and rainy stormy weather tends to punctuate the weeks. In my 20s I felt disconnected from the seasons, I worked in an office 9 to 5 with an hour commute either side. Seeing the seasons change was done from the train window, walks around town at lunchtime and as the sun rose on my walk to the train station. Writing a set of intentions for the season ahead helped me reconnect with the world beyond the office. I now create a manifesto to help me navigate the season and remind myself how I want to feel during the autumnal months.
I think having a set of nourishing statements and intentions which hold a certain energy with them, can help my mindset for the season ahead. I particularly appreciate having a manifesto during Autumn and Winter so I can remind myself of all the goodness I can experience and take from the season where much of the time feels like we are indoors sheltering from the weather.
Connecting to the rhythms in nature - Writing my manifesto around the autumn equinox
I choose to write my seasonal manifestos around the solstices and equinoxes. The seasons are shaped by the tilt and location of the earth in relation to the sun, determining the levels of light and the temperatures we experience. The moments in the year of equal light and darkness at the equinoxes, and the peak of light or darkness at the solstices, create moments where the seasons shift which have been celebrated for thousands of years.
The Autumn Equinox falls around the 21st to the 24th September, this year it falls on 21st September. Choosing to connect with this natural moment in the year encourages me to create my own pause, making space to reflect on the season which has finished, and create a new manifesto for the new season starting.
Connecting with nature’s cycles reminds me to appreciate the seasons for what they are, and spending the week around the autumn equinox to gather my thoughts and intentions gives me time and space to write a manifesto for the season which feels grounded and useful to me.
Living seasonally and connecting with the energy of the autumn season
During the autumn the light levels shift and we move towards the day with the shortest hours of daylight. Darkness bookends the day during the waking hours, we wake in the darkness and come home from work and school in the darkness too. Temperatures begin to fall and later in the season we can experience frosts.
We make the most of seasonal foods and make warming soups and hearty stews using the root vegetables. On cold nights we feel called to hunker down and begin to appreciate our home environment even more.
During the autumn months I notice a mixture of fresh start energy following the end of the school summer holiday as I return to working many more hours in the week. I tend to have ideas which need sorting out, projects I want to focus on and progress I want to make.
There is a need which needs to be met during the autumn, to feel nourished in our bodies and for some of us our minds too. The shorter hours of daylight encourage a movement inwards, in our homes and our minds and this energy feels distinctly different than the summer season before it.
Connecting with natural metaphors during the autumn season
Part of the practice of writing a seasonal metaphor is taking inspiration and ideas from what I am noticing in the natural world around me. I think about and observe what is going on outdoors, I look at the plants, the wildlife, the landscapes around me and how we as humans interact with the spaces we share.
As the landscape around us shifts in autumn to a range of golden and glowing colours so do the ideas which are waiting to glow and come to life. Walks in the park and in the woods become a place of wonder, conkers and seeds can be collected, fungi appear overnight, leaves and seeds cascade to the ground below. The woodland floor is illuminated by the leaves fallen from the trees, creating an expanse of brightness amongst the bare trees. Berries create bright displays within hedgerows and form a vital food source for wildlife.
The natural metaphors and themes within autumn include change, letting go, gathering resources, decomposition and composting, and connection. We can discover the beauty within the change process during autumn and the call to nourish ourselves whilst it’s happening.
I choose to connect with these natural metaphors during the autumn season as they help me live more in line with the natural world and the shifting seasons. I spend time thinking about how I usually interact with the season and the existing rhythms and routines I have which form part of my day to day and the season as a whole. Over the years I’ve gained more awareness and understanding of myself by stepping back and thinking about the season and my relationship with it.
My autumn manifesto in 2026
My autumn manifesto weaves together layers of meaning, from the wisdom I’m noticing in the natural world in the autumn, my own thoughts about what I’m choosing to focus on this season and how I want to feel.
Over the years I’ve weaved in a connection to my word of the year to add an intentional connection to this yearly practice. In many ways my manifesto this autumn continues to connect with Glow, my word for the year, creating an anchor for my energy and my focus for the season ahead.
I’ve chosen to write my autumn manifesto in a way which gently reminds me of the feelings I want to have in the season, and how I can tend and nourish myself, and make the most of this season and chapter of our life as a family.
Autumn Manifesto 2026
Preserve the colours of the falling leaves
Savour the bright days
Gather, sort and store the seeds
Notice the carpets of glowing leaves
Feel comforted by the warm glow
Appreciate the nourishing energy flowing towards the roots
Preserve the colours of the falling leaves
As with all seasons I know that changes will happen. I want to preserve the beauty of the glowing colours seen in the season, as well as knowing that any changes will create space. Whilst many of the falling leaves will fade and be left to turn into compost, I know there will be some of these leaves I want to preserve in their true colours.
Savour the bright days
During the autumn months there will be dull cloudy and rainy days. Savouring the bright days, getting outside and appreciating the brighter light will uplift my motivation and boost my energy.
Gather, sort and store the seeds
As the season progresses I know there will be ideas which I will choose to hold onto and others I won’t. The seeds I choose to store can be sorted and looked after until it’s time to plant them. There will be some seeds I choose to plant earlier than others and some which will wait until the spring arrives.
Notice the carpets of glowing leaves
Know that the ground can glow when the leaves fall, sometimes pathways will be illuminated and sometimes hidden within a bigger space to explore.
Feel comforted by the warm glow
A warm glow found both outside and inside act as reminders of the magic and comfort found within this colder darker season.
Appreciate the nourishing energy flowing towards the roots
Whilst things are quietening on the surface, the flow of energy is actively helping to nourish the roots and allowing them to grow. The roots are growing as the light fades creating nourishing foundations when the season of growth returns.
