Note to Self: Go Gently
Be kind in the discomfort. Be here in the mess.
Autumn has not found me with open arms this year, I have met the darkening days with resistance and reluctance. Friends have helped to shepherd me into this new season with gifts of pumpkin spice scents, colourful leaf crafts and the good conversation that helps me find my feelings. I felt bereft to lose my early morning daylight runs but, now that the Half-Marathon I was training for is completed, I hope there’s an opportunity try something different.
This is one of those times when the seasonal change in nature around me is mirrored by my internal seasonal sense.
In these past months, I have been frantically filling my days with All of The Things. As I’ve written before stillness does not come easily to me. The persistent challenge to practice rest remains in the background of my plans and productivity. This song calling me to rest seems to harmonise with nature’s call towards hibernation, cosy simplicity and quieter days.
At the Motherhood Retreat in August, I saw how much joy some participants took from collage, and I wanted a try myself. The delightful thing about playing with collage is that you don’t have to conjure thoughts, but instead notice what resonates from the words and pictures presented. The pages gently offer ideas and images to glean from.
My image is filled with cosiness, self-compassion and reminders to go gently. Someone wise pointed out that I can’t shift gear into this immediately. My compulsion to fill my time with good and rich things doesn’t disappear when scolded. I hope to keep choosing and growing, little by little, towards simplicity and slowness. Here’s my reminder to myself…
Note to Self
What do you need? Cool water? A touch of quiet?
Move slowly here, inches and hours into a new way.
Rest your twitchy hands, hold your feet to the ground
Allow stillness to release a threadbare layer from your shoulders
Feel grief in the shedding, a scent of freedom.
Be kind in the discomfort, be here in the mess
Tend gently to the inner turning.
Plant a perilous seed today
Water it tomorrow.
Rest and repeat.
Coming Up…
We’ll be playing with the theme of attention and taking a pause to listen to Autumn’s Invitations at the Autumn Soul Sessions this weekend. Taking time alone, together in a group, sounds like a dichotomy, but the solo time and the company nourish each other beautifully.
There are limited tickets available for the in-person Session on Thursday 23rd October:
And if you’d like to join online on Sunday 26th evening (8pm UK time) you are so very welcome, wherever you find yourself in the world:
I’ve also been working away in the background on my Motherhood Letterbox Retreat, which will launch tomorrow.
Here’s to living gently with ourselves,
With love,
Debbie
