When We're Scared of Dying For A Season

Happy Halloween / Witches' New Year / Samhain! 

I hope you enjoyed your chosen festivities immensely. 

I had planned to attend 2 parties and host 2 more this past weekend, but got sick AGAIN. 

There was a big message coming to me through my body last week and that's what I want to share with you today.

Last week, my period came a day early AND I got a sore throat on the same day.

The message was very clear:

PRUNE.

It's autumn: The leaves are dying and falling because trees innately know what they must shed in order to survive the winter. 

Anything that can go, must go. Set aside for a season until they have the capacity to expend energy there again. 

This was the same timely wisdom my own body was sharing with me, too.

It was very clear to me that with the combination of an early period and a sore throat on the same day, my body was saying I urgently need to prioritize my body, my rest, and let go of the things that aren't necessary--even if I love them!

I would have loved to have a weekend of parties, plus accomplish all of my regular work and home necessities, but I just could not. 

I could not ignore my body's needs without suffering consequences for my own health and the health of others (if I had gone ahead with party attendance I surely would have spread this illness). 

And here's the kicker: Our bodies will continue sending us the message until we receive the message. 

I received the message, for the short term: I didn't attend the 2 parties, and am rescheduling/downsizing the 2 I am hosting.

I chose to forgo writing my weekly email newsletter, I haven't expended energy into posting on social media, and I've done the bare bones of home work (took me a full week to do the laundry I normally do in an afternoon).

But as I'm sitting here writing to you, I'm reminded that leaves don't fall for a week or two or even a month then reappear overnight. 

The branches remain bare for the entirety of the season. 

As I sit here typing to you, I'm sipping on Throat Coat tea, wincing at the start of a headache and aching sinuses.

And I'm wondering...

How much did I really receive the message to rest for a season? 

I rested for a week. 

It was definitely necessary.

But my body--and my life--need more than just a week. We need a reframe.

I need to take a closer look at my whole life experience and ask myself:

Halloween/Samhain marks the descent into the darkest time of the year for us here in the northern hemisphere.

We are in the death part of the death/rebirth yearly cycle.

For so many of us in our modern lifestyles (and especially socialized as women), the idea of letting some things in our lives die feels terrifying.

What if we're not enough without these things we've filled our lives with?

What if our tenuous grasp on our career, relationships, home life, etc. slips away if we let it die?

Even for just a season.

I feel that fear with you ❤️

We're not used to embracing death. The ends of cycles. Or even setting things down for a season.

Instead, we've been primed to believe that we always have to be on, always have to be visible, always have to be everything, everywhere, to everyone--so FULL of life.

But that is the road to burnout, exploitation, and unfulfillment.

We are cyclical.

Even when it's hard.

And right now we are in the dark, the death, the releasing season.

So my invitation today--for me and for you--is to make some space to reflect on the questions above, and any others that feel important and necessary for you.

How might we embrace the dark, the death, the hibernation season more fully?

And remember--

Trees are stronger in the spring for letting their beautiful leaves go in the fall. And for pruning beloved branches in the dark depth of winter.

We are nature, too. 🍁

If you need help navigating this releasing season or gaining access to the depths of wisdom your body is communicating to you through your menstrual cycle and so much more, join me inside a personalized coaching container where we'll examine how your unique cycle is the map to your wild wisdom.