Welcome to winter, dear one.
This is Mama Nature’s purpose-built permission slip for getting hygge with it, for living in fluffy socks and tracksuit bottoms beneath a weighted blanket, and having a budget for apple spice candles that requires its own business expense category. Winter is where we plant seeds of ideas in the frosted earth of misty mornings, letting them glow and grow under sunset skies of blood orange and purple.
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Even though we know the sacred nature of rest and the power of seasonal retraction deep in the very marrow of our bones, it can still feel like an act of rebellion to make space when our culture is hard wired to hustle.
If you haven’t already, consider how you might harness this sacred solace of winter surrender in your business, to allow your seeds to bloom into powerful creations for next year. Firstly, creating more boundaries allows for deeper surrender, and an incredibly potent void for your next offerings to emerge from.
This might look like: - Checking emails once or twice per day instead of hourly - Going on airplane mode for chunks of time for deep work/rest/meditation - Reducing your working hours to allow for downtime - Intentionally stepping back from social media on days and times that feel good to do so
There are SO many ways to design time for the sacred solace of winter surrender, and I am writing this as much for myself as for you, dear one. This doesn’t mean taking three months off to sleep and re-imagine your life and career, far from it (although if that resonates, go for it!). Rather, it’s about the invitation to simply create more space, and to be intentional about it.
When we allow rest to become a space for replenishment and regeneration; when we lean into going fallow for a while, the payoff is always so much more powerful than we might imagine. Creativity soars, our connection is far more potent, our energy is stronger, we find direction, focus, and drive again. It also means we can work, serve and show up in a far more focussed way when we are engaged and switched on.
So, as winter invites us to snuggle up with journals and hot cacao (preceded by an icy swim if you are a water baby like me), use those blank pages to consider how you want to rest this winter. Wishing you a cosy, creative, soul-led snuggle up, Jo x
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Jo Gifford is a writer, poet, and content catalyst who helps soul led entrepreneurs articulate their brilliance and create connection. Follow Jo on Instagram @thejogifford.
Originally published in Issue 20 · November 2022 issue of SOULACY.
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