Blackout Friday
Black Friday is when we know we are now entering the season of the Big Spend.
Now I think the sales are great (when they are genuine). We do after all, live inside capitalism, and the options for most of us making a living are based on making and spending money.
A few folks have access to land and the physical, social and mental fitness to source their own food, materials and community for survival. But most of the global population has to trade economically to survive.
So the sales are great for businesses who need to generate cashflow, and they are great for people who are short of cash and want to make the most of their resources. I am not against Black Friday.
AND
in the Northern parts of the globe, we are fast entering the slide into ultimate night length. The daylight doesnt last long and it is increasingly cold. Our mammalian bodies are regulated by sunlight and energy output, and we have the biological capacity to slow our systems, reduce energy use, rest and restore over the cold periods so we can make it through to spring when food will start to reappear.
So the noise, light, heat, and eating typical of the winter period can be read as a trauma response to fear of the wintertime. The long cold nights. The damp and the scarcity. This hyperactivity too is a biological response. A survival mechanism.
What I would like to invite you, dear reader, to consider is whether you are feeling fearful? Are you warm and well-fed or getting cold and hungry? Do you have survival challenges? Do you have the resources - money, food, heat, friends, community - to get through this winter? Do you feel strong but know people who are more stretched?
We can take a step back at winter time and reflect on what we really need - not what our culture says we need, not what others are asking for (important as that is to consider) - and to listen to the body which is full of wisdom.
Do you need to make the most of the Black Friday discount frenzy?
Would you benefit from slowing down and retreating?
Do you need to hunker under the duvet or ramp up the energy to feel safe?
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I now would like to offer you a model for living that goes against the dominant culture but might be of value to you.
If you decide to go quiet, slow down, cut out activities and save - your energy, your time, your money - in the cold months - you may find as I have, a huge payoff next year.
When we retreat, give time to experience the real cold and the night of the year, tapping into the beauty of darkness and quiet, of stillness and lack:
We allow our system to rest and recover from the activity of the summer and autumn.
We allow our soul and inner self to renew, reflect and integrate the lessons and experiences of the year gone.
And what does this do?
This means in spring, when warmth and life return to the soil,
You will be ready.
You will not be cluttered with excess from midwinter.
You will be clearer, refreshed and ready, like buds, to burst forth and give your gifts anew.
You can save your giving for the spring - your deepest gifts may not come wrapped in shiny paper but in your sense of self, your commitments to what matters most to you, your integrity and your honesty about who you really are. And that is the power and gift we want most from you.
Allow the blanket of winter to dampen down your noise, and let your inner workings have space without you knowing where it will lead.
I invite you to try it, this year. Try it small or go full hibernation. Blackout Friday, the weekend, or the whole winter thing.
Let's check back in midsummer and let's look at what your springtime was like.
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Dream deep this winter, tell me what seeds emerge...
I am a small business owner and need to make a living all year. You can order Goddess prints and original works if you want this kind of gift (Opens in a new window) and you can find out more ways to work with me (including coaching on how to make the most of seasonal rhythms in work and life) at my website (Opens in a new window).
