How the hell is she even using this stuff?
A meditation phrase is nice. A journal prompt can be thought-provoking, but living seasonally is about practice inspired by nature’s example.
I follow a daily set of tasks that help me feel seasonally aligned. I’ll go ahead and outline them, but remember that EVERYONE feels different in each season. You are the only shepherd of your path. I use the idea of habit stacking to build my seasonal time blocks.
My week begins where it ENDS: on Sunday. Why do I begin here?
When I worked at Starbucks in Henderson, NV back in the early 2000s, my manager, Bob, used to tell me to set the next shift up for success. And he encouraged every shift to do this, paying it forward. Bob knew that setting up the next team for success was the last step for one team, but for the other team, it was the first step.
Begin your week at the end of the previous. Set yourself up for success: review next week’s theme, pull out your journal so you can find it in the morning, and maybe take a screenshot or jot it down on a Post-It. I often use this time to review my calendar and planner.
Monday morning is packed, so I aim to review my theme sometime Monday.
This works for me. I’m flexible. Depending on how firm your own mindset is, you may need a more fixed schedule for this. I find that after I’ve made sure nothing at work is on fire, it serves me to review my planner and theme for that week.
I’ll usually light a candle or incense and do a small breathing exercise while repeating the meditation chant. It helps ground me and set the stage for my week.
I also divine my week on this day. For me, that’s tarot, but what you’re aiming for with this practice is anything that bonds your intuition with the larger universe and returns a message infused with both energies. Runes, staves, bones, oracles, etc. All work.
Tuesday–Thursday are my action days. These days represent the “summer” of my week. I get my greatest strides of long-focus work done on these days.
These are the days I find myself returning to the weekly theme to use the meditation chant or the prayer (or both).
As someone who feels uneasy about worshipping an entity, praying to a seasonal energy/ideology/what-have-you seems a suitable compromise for me. It feels more like a practical acknowledgement of that seasonal energy in the world around me, allowing room for a more magical practice if I see fit, or staying trim and neat with just the idea of that natural rhythm as the only divine essence worshipped during my prayers. Again, I build in that flexibility for myself.
Thursday evening into Saturday morning are my harvest days. Here, I reap the reward of my work all week. Here, I celebrate achievements, rekindle social connections, resupply my home, and rejuvenate my garden. I try to plan my time during these days to be fun and exciting.
This is where I savor the luster of life. This is where I feel a return on the investments of my time during the week.
Saturday evening and Sunday are then spent to recover and rest. I do my food prep these days. I clean my home. I read, take phone calls with loved ones, and do my journaling and spiritual work on this day as well.
This is when I return to my weekly theme and my journal prompt to reflect. I especially attempt to build in gratitude.
For everyone, their week within the theme may be different. I lean into ritual, so this reflection moment involves senses and intentions: I engage the senses as I would a ritual for my craft group and I do so with intention (putting away distractions, dedicating time and space, and making sure I’m rested and fueled).
That evening, I scroll to the top of this page and begin another season anew.
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