Arlene Francey Lyne, affiliate of The Writers Company, on how winter can be a time of reflection and growth.
The last of the leaves are falling. The sweet chestnut’s are gone. There are a few left on the beech tree. The silver birch looks odds on for last to release.
The bare bones of the garden are revealing themselves.
A few actions are still being taken out there in the precious daylight hours, but the energy is mainly focused beneath now.
As in the garden, so in life.
It is time for us to go within: to embrace the darkness and allow our desires to reveal themselves. To dream what we want for our next chapter.
I find the ideas come thick and fast at this time.
Think of it as browsing the garden catalogues. ‘Ohh, look at all those things I could grow!’
I simply note them down - in my journal or on my phone. I call it my possibility list.
That’s all that’s needed for now.
It’s a fun time for writers: full permission to daydream!
Then come mid-January I sort and sift and choose, ready to start ‘planting’ in early spring….after the snowdrops have come up!
How to ‘sort and sift and choose’? I have a special vision board process I’ve used for over a decade.
It helps me to filter out the ‘shoulds’ from the stuff I REALLY want for the next year.
It provides a compass with which to navigate the (growing) year ahead.
I’ll be hosting a vision boarding session for women writers on Friday January 14th to help you vision YOUR year ahead; to help you put what matters most at the forefront of your life. Details here.
So this year, how about ditching New Year’s Resolutions and trying a different approach?
In the meantime happy dreaming, however that looks for you.
Arlene x
