Going with the season
Walking with the Land has had an active year of growth, learning and building connections. We’ve come far in our understanding of the questions we want to explore and how we want to share this exploration with people. We’re far from having all (or any) of the answers, but we still feel driven by a desire to engage people in thinking about our relationship with the Earth and the connections with the crises we are living through.
Having run a few workshops on this theme over the summer, we decided to modify our approach this autumn. Following the small uptake in our workshop offering, we questioned if what we were doing was right. Why were we struggling to reach our audience? Where were the people we wanted to involve in our work? Or was what we were offering simply not quite right?
The answer is probably a mix of all of these things and more. But most importantly, what has become apparent for both of us is that we want to pause and reflect on where we’ve got to, not simply charge ahead and persevere because we need to be “doing”.
In everything we do - and especially in this community of thought that we are nurturing - we want to be awake to what is motivating our actions, and question whether these motives feel right. Are we striving for something, pushing harder than we should? Is the energy behind what we are doing coming from a genuine place of passion and excitement, or is it a more strident pressure to be seen to be ‘doing’ and ‘achieving’?
These questions have led us naturally to slow down and allow space for answers. Unsurprisingly, it has coincided with the glorious season of autumn, a period when the rich fruits of the summer ripen and can be harvested in abundance. It is also a time of transition and transformation, when living matter returns to the ground to break down and feed the soil with nutrients and energy. We are of this Earth, and so we go with the season. We are reaping the fruits of the past year and reducing our energy expenditure as the sun dips low in the sky and the nights draw in.
Mathilde
For me, it feels like a relief after a high-energy and active sunny period. I have a desire to retreat, go inward and reconnect with my sense of purpose. I want to pick up strands that have been forgotten in the rush of activity and living over the summer. I feel like I’m bedding down and nourishing myself - literally and metaphorically - ahead of the winter. I’m gathering my resources around me, strengthening my mind and energy so I can be more connected with how I want to show up and what I want to do in the world.
What this means for my work with Walking with the Land is a period of reflection on what I’ve learned so far, from my collaboration with Alex and all the intricacies of setting up an initiative together. I’ve also been thinking about my interactions with folk in the workshops, and the many conversations I’ve had on the topic of relationship to land and the climate and ecological crisis. I can feel a hunger for more of these nourishing and eye-opening conversations, with as diverse a set of people as possible. So for me, the next season with Walking with the Land is going to be about seeking out more opportunities for connection and conversation. I would love to share these explorations with you all via our blog, in written, audio, visual format… Let’s see. I’m excited to see what creativity emerges during the autumn and winter nights ahead.
Alex
I have long experienced a dynamic of changing energies with the seasons. Some might call it SAD (seasonal affective disorder), but I don’t think of it as a disorder, more as a reflection of the realities of living a fair distance from the equator. No matter how much I would like to have more energy in the winter, I cannot force it. And it is usually a time of significant reflection about the year gone by and setting intention for the year to come. This is particularly acute for me this year as I seek to make space for a more spiritual time which has been missing from my daily life for a number of years.
I anticipate that I will still wish to write on occasion, and indeed have a post almost ready to go. However, I will mostly be spending my time trying to nourish my family, spend time outdoors and give my inner world some attention. Who knows where this will lead me to focus next year, but I know it will involve trying to better understand what people need in these times of ecological crisis, and finding ways to support those needs.
Wishing everyone a nourishing and fulfilling winter.