This week was the week of Samhain, All Saints or as the Mexicans call it Las Dias de los Muertos. It’s the time of year that – at least in the northern hemisphere – we feel winter is coming, the darker season is rising.

From now on most of us have the tendency to start running, sprint towards the end of the year and finish our year as a successful year, achieve our goals, secure our bonuses and… end up tired, wasted with a winter dip and… become ill.

Traditional cultures, who lived with the rhythm of the land, did the opposite and followed the natural flow. At this time of year they were about to finish their gatherings and harvest, prepare their lands for winter, for the next season and go into hibernation.

Which track do you follow? 

A few years ago I decided to spend more time in nature which connected me more and more to the natural flow of the year. Since then I am experiencing an increasing stretch and stress in November and December between the two paths. And every year I experience an increasing pull from people who don’t follow the natural flow. 

I drew a picture for myself and my friends, colleagues, clients and others in my network to learn about the stretch and start a conversation about it. Maybe it helps you as well. Please share your thoughts and experiences with me.

I would describe our tendency in terms of a rational, industrial, mechanical tendency, full of control and chronos, deadlines, full agendas, finishing goals, running, working hard, yelling, pulling and pushing each other, stress, getting grumpy, tension, fighting, masculinity, getting tired, feeling a winterdip coming, getting shivering and ill, hating the dark and cold, switching on the lights and firing up the heater. Most of us are familiar with it. For most of us it is the way things go. For most of us it is what we accept, what we… tend to do. 

It’s like growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. In the end you will manage to grow something edible, but it will cost a lot of extra energy and will not get close to the taste of the juicy ones which grow naturally in summer.

I would describe our need as following our natural needs, the flow of the season, welcoming winter, being grateful, letting go. I would describe this phase of the year as a phase of recovery, regeneration, recreation, going inwards, being in silence, intimacy, self care, rest, harmony and … trust.

The more I let go, the more people who are still in the tendency track tend to push and pull me to get a grip and work, work, work. The more empty my agenda gets, the more space they see to fill and the higher their tendency to help me fill it. The more silent I get, the more space they experience to talk and babble and try to convince me. 

Which track do you follow? Will you work hard until the end of the year or will you recover and get ready for spring? It’s up to you and the people around you.

Welcome, winter. Welcome in winter. Enjoy the season.