Cultivation is vital through all seasons. Throughout Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, the harvests of our lives give and take a little – and through all the seasons, our hearts and minds require careful and intentional cultivation.
It’s Winter now. Figuratively and literary, in so many ways. Our landscape lays dormant, bright skies sparkle on morning frosts and bare branches stretch and wait. Likewise, our economy is growing weary, we’re all growing a little weary. And while COVID came to our Summer, it’s engulfed our Spring and Winter now too, so it seems appropriate that the season is now Winter. So much seems dormant, stagnant, cold and even lifeless. Both figuratively and literally.
And maybe there are areas of your life which are experiencing Spring, or Summer. But for many of us, this Winter has reached into our hearts and has mirrored the interiors of our minds and spirits as we’ve trudged through a season which has been at times desperately cold, fruitless and a little scary.
The most amazing part of it all is this: Spring is coming. Figuratively and literally, Spring is on her way. Whether we’re ready or not. She’ll warm the earth and leaves will reach their freshness to her clear blue skies. And what we’ve cultivated will bloom. Because Spring isn’t the time to begin to cultivate. Spring is the moment when everything bursts to life. Things which have been planted, cultivated and allowed to grow strength under deep layers of soil, quiet, cold darkness.
I don’t know about you, but I am so excited for Spring. Literally and figuratively. But especially figuratively.
Here are three ways we can cultivate now, what Spring will bloom in our lives:
1. Cultivate Gratitude
Throughout the Winter seasons, gratitude is even more important than in the glories of Spring and Summer. It’s like we’re storing up the goodness and planting it, firm in our hearts.
When we adopt an attitude to be grateful for the small things, to not let the small goodnesses pass without acknowledgement, we plant them in fertile soil and before we know it, silent but firm roots of gratitude are branching across and through our hearts. Steadying themselves to grow into something magnificent in Spring.
Ann Voskamp’s 1000 Gifts is a fun, beautiful and practical way to build the habit of gratitude into your daily life.
2. Cultivate Healing
When I was a kid, I stayed up super late the night before my birthday, cleaning my bedroom. After all, I figured, a messy room was the worst. I wanted everything to be just so, on my birthday. And a clean room was my attempt at setting myself up to win.
Fears. Insecurities. Pain. They linger long after infliction. But they don’t have to remain. And perhaps these quiet, cold, dark months give us room to give them the acknowledgment they deserve. And to even seek professional help for those wounds which we need support with.
Because there will always be scars – but how wonderful is the moment when a weight is lifted from our shoulders and we feel that little bit more ready for Spring.
3. Cultivate Selfcare
Just because it’s Winter, doesn’t mean we don’t need nourishment. In fact, it’s the opposite. For us to sustain the season and have fuel and energy for the new season when it does (finally) come, we must care for ourselves intentionally and with love.
Yes it’s cold and a little dark but there’s nothing more cosy than a warm, welcoming place amidst the quiet. My alltime favourite wellness coach Stacey McBride Wilson has a gorgeous (and free!) ebook empowering women all over Australia to prioritise their self care. Check it out here.
Friends, the darker the Winter, the brighter the Spring. If for you, it’s been a rough Winter season, the great news is, Spring is on her way! What will you cultivate while you wait for her?