Trust Your Creative Seasons

In this piece I share the impact I've experienced from embracing the seasons of creativity. I also share the lessons I learned from my pot plants and what it means for creativity and creative expression.

My hope is that, but sharing this, you too will feel inspired to embrace your own version of creativity.

Transcript

Everything is always working out for us.

It's a grey and wet early autumn day here,

And I've surprised myself by declaring that I'm feeling incredibly grateful and inspired by the dreary weather.

I love the cosy vibes,

Sitting on the couch with a hot drink and a good book,

Or baking something delicious in the warm kitchen while the wind and rain howl outside.

This is quite a departure from the days of longing for endless sunny summer days,

Which now seems to be nothing more than a youthful yearning,

At least and especially since moving to the USA.

We arrived in the middle of August 2022,

Not realising the dense wall of heat and humidity awaiting us on the other side of the air-conditioned window.

It only took that one brief experience,

Half of August through to early October,

To realise that summer was in fact now our least favourite season.

As we now slowly transition into the cooler,

Less humid autumnal period,

It seems rather fitting to acknowledge the significance of the passage of seasons in our lives,

And our preference for some seasons over others.

Personally,

I feel like I've begun transitioning into a new season in my life too.

For the past two years since moving to a new country,

I've been sloughing off my old attachments both literally and metaphorically.

My focus has been inward for much of this period,

Setting up home,

Settling into new systems as well as exploring my new role and my new identity within the context of our new life.

By the way,

If you're ever looking to reinvent yourself quickly,

Move to a new country.

By necessity,

You're forced to drop so much of your old life and figure out who you are and how you show up in your new one.

In time,

I'll share some of those specific experiences,

But in summary,

The move and the settling in period required a very conscious adoption of the novice identity.

So much is new,

So much is unknown,

And as a result,

We have no choice but to accept our inexperience and lack of knowledge with regard to how things work here.

From leasing an apartment and everything that goes with owning a car,

From submitting tax returns to where to shop for groceries and everything in between,

In hindsight,

Becoming a novice has been one of the many gifts I've received from this particular season.

Last month I turned 45 and that chronological shift combined with a collection of recent experiences and insights from the past two years has resulted in me waking up this morning on the first day of October feeling,

Well,

Shifted.

Lessons from my potted plants.

One area of my home life in which I can categorically admit to being a novice is plant rearing.

I used to be one of those people who would admit and laugh about my absence of green digits.

I have visions of one day being a future homesteader surrounded by greenery and living off our land.

Today,

Though,

We live in a one-bedroom apartment within walking distance from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Not exactly remote living.

To offset our city living quarters,

Though,

I insisted that we got lots of plants when we moved into our apartment and I committed to developing my plant talents.

Fortunately,

With the help of much internet research and my trusty plant-watering app,

Not only have I managed to keep my plants alive,

Even when we took a two-and-a-half-month road trip across the country in the summer,

But I've managed to help my plants thrive and outgrow their pots.

Yesterday,

I noticed the yellowing of a few leaves of one of my favourite plants.

On closer inspection,

I realised that it was again time for it to be repotted.

Apparently,

It has been so happy under my care that it has,

For the second time,

Outgrown its pot.

My pot plant was very clearly demonstrating that it was time for a new season.

It had reached capacity in its current environment and was ready to move on and up.

As I went about sinking my hands into the cool softness of the potting soil,

Filling the new,

Bigger pot and transferring the plant into its roomier space,

I realised that I too was feeling like it was time for me to move into a new season.

I'd been showing signs of outgrowing my current circumstances and the transition into something new was fast approaching.

During the course of the last two years,

I've been reacquainting myself with my creative talents,

Some old,

Some new.

In fact,

If I'm honest,

For a period spanning nearly an entire year,

Possibly more,

I didn't pick up my big camera to take photos.

This is significant because before I move,

I earned my living taking photos for clients.

Since then,

I haven't felt like taking photos with any sense of purpose.

What I did feel like creating instead was travel videos,

Trying my hand at digital illustration and writing.

I even wrote and illustrated an entire children's book.

I felt like honing my vegan cooking skills,

Crocheting and of course,

Rearing my potted plants.

This is a disparate collection of creative endeavours spanning the full range of my ability and experience.

Progress and improvement has been slow,

Especially because my time and energy is split across so many pursuits.

It's been tiring,

It's been painful at times,

And it's been overwhelming.

Having the desire to do all the things,

But without any particular purpose,

Direction or timeline.

An amorphous creative abyss.

I felt frustrated that my creative pursuits were all over the place,

Lacking cohesion and seemingly unrelated and without purpose.

I recently began the practice of vocalising my inner monologue and sharing that recorded audio file with a small group of like-minded women intent on developing this daily ritual.

The practice so far appears to be surprisingly impactful.

In recent days,

The theme of creative expression has surfaced strongly for me and this morning I received what felt like several significant nudges to step into my new season,

To move on from my inward ruminating about creativity and into a space of active creation and sharing.

I've set up a physical space from which I can create in my apartment.

I've dubbed it my creation station,

To signify my intent to follow through on the creative urges I've been brewing for the past several months.

The penny dropped for me this morning though,

Thanks to one of my favourite authors,

James Macrae,

Author of The Art of You and Shit Your Ego Says.

He wrote,

The ritual is more important than the result.

In all my creative experimentation in recent times,

I know that I've been holding back from sharing and sometimes even creating,

Because of an imagined limitation.

My lack of experience,

My lack of honed talent,

My novice status,

Or my lack of reach or outward success.

But I'm in a new season now,

And my intention to focus on the ritual,

Not the result,

Like James says.

Another golden nugget that landed this morning was from Katie Selina,

And she said,

I understand that every day is a chance to start anew,

And every season is an invitation to embrace change with optimism and hope.

So as I sign off this post at my new creation station,

Having outgrown an old season and entering a new one with the optimism and hope that it promises,

I remind myself that as I focus my energy on the ritual and not the result,

Everything is always,

Has always,

And will always work out for me.

May you receive from this,

A nugget or two that resonates when you need it.

Until next time,

Abigail.

Reviews

A beautiful and wonderful meditation that made me ponder about my know unfolding and rebirth. Thank you!

Thank you, for sharing your important thoughts on your life seasons…& embracing your creativity💖🦋🌸

Thank you for sharing your story. I definitely took some good nuggets away from us. Keep going.

Exactly what I needed to hear this morning, thank you 🙏🏻 🌷