It’s Not About the Clock

Rediscovering the Rhythm of Life

By the time you read this, we would’ve performed the ritual of changing the clocks, which supposedly signifies a shift in seasons. For me, this artificial boundary between light and darkness means little. Instead, I look to the ancients, the time of the Equinoxes and Solstices, when life is recalibrating.

I am a creature that loves light, sun and ocean. When the weather shifts or becomes dark, windy, and cold my spirit and body feel it deeply. In Portugal, I have managed to shift from the depression I used to feel at the change from summer to autumn to a comfort, maybe even an anticipation, of being in a womb-like state for a while. This year’s shift has been gentle, with days that still allow short sleeves and a dip in the ocean - at least toes and legs. It feels like floating into the new season instead of being dragged by a strong current.

These transitions remind me that nothing is permanent. Everything has its season and the cycles feed each other. I now understand the coming darkness as a time of gestation, seedlings planted earlier have time to root and develop in the moist earth, as does my creativity and ongoing spiritual development. From the rain and moist earth, life will emerge, full of color and vitality. I now enter the next season, aware that moment-to-moment life is dancing around me even if I don‘t always see it.

How do you move through the seasons? Do you have a favorite season? Why?