Honoring our Natural Rhythms

Reposted from previous Newsletter, to be notified of monthlyish newsletters you can subscribe here.

As our summer winds down and my kids head back to school, I feel the shift of energy both in myself and the world around me.  I’ve said it before, but summer has always been my emotional winter and as we near the Fall I can feel myself coming out of hibernation and into a more expressive place.
 
I know that this is happening because I start to write more, I begin to pull out crafting materials, old sewing and knitting projects, I start programs with goals, and feel an over-all energy to begin something a-new.
 
I think knowing our rhythms and processes are helpful as we go along in this life.   Especially when comparison (aka the killer of joy) takes over.  I may marvel at a friend who seems to be in her fiery creative manifesting phase in her life with so much excitement and change and then turn back and notice that my rhythm may be in direct contrast to that. 
 
Instead of bemoaning myself for not being in a state of so much flurry and action I can now appreciate that this is my flow, in fact it has always been my flow to hunker down during the summer, conserve, reflect, and slow down.  
 
This is my natural rhythm.
 
Writing is a helpful tool in these times.  I have written almost daily for years with a practice called “The morning pages” from the Artist Way book.  I write nonsense for 3 pages or more and sometimes ideas will pop out from that nonsense, and I’ll write those down on a separate page.  These ideas may come to fruition, or they may stay on the page forever, but it helps to have somewhere to put them in case my rhythm changes to wanting to take action. 
 
Patience has come to mean to me to stay true to what I value while being kind to myself in the waiting instead of begrudgingly wishing that the timing was "right", RIGHT NOW. 
 
I ask myself "do you want to take action from a place that feels good or do you want to take action from this worried, frenzied, anxious state?  Given this choice I would always prefer to wait until the peace arrives.
 
Peace has been my prayer of late.  Peace from the pendulum swing of the many changes of my body through perimenopause, peace from the transitional phases of the ups and downs of running a business, peace with the unknowns of childcare and finding time for all the things and peace with my body’s aches and pains.  I want to be at peace with it all.
 
That of course is easier said than done.
 
But in that prayer of asking for peace no matter the outcome I am again reminded of my values.  I try and reach for that peace as much as possible.  When I do, I receive a deep exhale.

What about you?  What are the natural rhythms you notice I your life, in your creative process, in doing hard things?  Love to know :)