Rejoicing in the Season of Now
On embracing Fall/Winter, rather than running from it
Written Nov 7 2025
This morning was the first frost where I live. I arose and went outside, all bundled up with my hot tea, for my usual ritual of morning offerings and prayers. Ice-sharp beauty slit across the land, glinting back the rising sun like a field of diamonds. It was radiant and it was cold. The breath, my visible companion.
As I sat taking it in, I noticed that there was a subconscious story of loss playing out in my mind. On some level, I was thinking “oh, the beautiful flowers are finally gone - oh, these plants may die - oh, what a sadness.”
But the garden invited me into a different perspective:
What if each season leaving isn’t a thing to mourn, but a thing to rejoice?
What if the cold ice of frost on leaves isn’t a chocking death, but a deeply welcomed transition?
We live in a society obsessed with endless growth, speed, and expansion. Although I make every effort to be aware of this and choose to live in a different manner, it is so deeply rooted. Uncoupling from this worldview is the work of my life - of most of our lives, I suspect. In the garden, sitting with the frost-covered plants, I asked myself to look deeper at where I was projecting this societal view of endless growth onto the more-than-human world. What other views could I try on?
Does the Sage plant grumble about the end of summer, or rejoice in its transition to intimate rootedness, to time and energy spend inward and cozily downward, to connecting with itself and its soil community?
Does the Japanese Maple tree weep as every gorgeous red leaf falls from her branches, or does she shudder in sweet pleasurable release as she shakes off every last leaf she has outgrown?
Does the Bear run from and resent hibernation, or does he cozily embrace the slow, the spacious, the still?
It is hard to embrace the rest, the dark, and the turning inward in a society that is totally obsessed with its opposite. The clock-time continues. The Gregorian calendar steamrolls ahead. Meetings must be attended and deadlines must be achieved.
I recognize this and name this. And/but/also, I recognize that we have agency and choice from wherever we are. Whether we can totally attune with the Fall/Winter season through deep inwardness and a hibernation from work, or whether we still have to get the same amount of shit done, we can take movements to bring us closer into alignment with the season we find ourselves in.
We can ask ourselves, honestly: Where do I spend energy mourning the seasonal transition? And what would be different if I experienced it with joy and gratitude instead? How can I embrace what is, rather than yearn for what is gone or what has not yet arrived?
We can make changes, as big or small as our life allows:
noticing the beauty of seeing your breath made visible, the feeling of the cold kissing your skin, the way sun reflects whole rainbows within ice crystals
undertaking the ritual of putting away summer clothes and pulling out winter clothes, wearing warmer clothes, donating unused or new warmer clothes to neighbors in need
embracing and prioritizing seasonal foods like squash and root vegetables, cooking and sharing meals with friends and neighbors
drinking hot teas throughout the day, preparing and eating warming foods like hot porridges, soups, and stews
curling up under blankets, wearing scarves and gloves, cuddling with fur companions, friends, and lovers
getting up early with the sunrise, going to bed earlier in the evening, spending time every day outside while the sun is out
lighting your home with candles, fairy lights, warm cozy lighting, a warming fire in the hearth
slowing or clearing our calendar, scaling back our external commitments, relieving ourselves of pressure over the next 6 months to achieve
saying no more often, taking naps when we can
going within more through meditation, prayer, quiet listening, dreamwork
What are some ways you prepare for the seasonal shift in your life?
May it be a season of renewal and insight for us all.
