Winter Manifesto
For a long time I struggled with the season of winter, especially after the festivities of December were finished and decorations packed up. I wanted to feel better about the winter season and made a conscious choice to seek out the joys of the season to support me.
By adding in new routines and rhythms to the winter months I’ve found different ways to think about and approach the season, helping it feel more restful and restorative but also uplifting.
One of those rhythms has been to write a seasonal manifesto to help me create a focus on how I want to feel in the season. I’ve been writing manifestos on my personal blog lucyellenhill.com since 2016, sometimes sharing them and sometimes just keeping them for me in my journal.
Creating a manifesto has been a helpful way to support my mindset and wellness, especially if its a time of year which feels more of a struggle, just as Winter used to be. Spending time thinking about and writing a manifesto has helped me cultivate more connection and intention with the season. I appreciate how I can personally connect with the season and elevate my everyday with small intentions I’ve created for myself. The seasonal manifestos have become the anchor I need to help me shape the experience from one season to the next.
Within a seasonal manifesto I write statements which encapsulate ideas about a feeling or experience generally I hope for in the season. I create them in an open way allowing interpretation to shift and flex. They are there as a guide rather than something needing to be ticked off and finish, they are not a bucket list or a to do list. I take cues from themes I feel are present in the natural world around me to help shape how I want to feel, and create ideas and wisdom to return to.
My winter manifesto this year connects with themes evolved from other years and those which I know support me the most.
Winter Manifesto 2024
Sink into the quiet moments and create my own pauses
Connect with the moments of joy
Appreciate the light
Deepen a connection with my roots
Embrace the clarity of bare branches and the horizon seen ahead
Sink into the quiet moments and create my own pauses
Use quiet moments to reflect, to gently plan and think about ideas
Appreciate the pause of the early morning when everyone is asleep, allow words and ideas to flow, and use moments to read and rest
Intentional pauses are needed to help my body and mind rest and feel restored, taking time to ‘book’ in time will support me this season
Connect with the moments of joy
Appreciate and notice the small moments of joy and magic during December
Document the joy and notice where I find most joy
Appreciate the light
Enjoy the colours of the sunrises and sunsets, I’ll miss seeing these in the summer months
Notice the winter light when I take photos
Deepen a connection with my roots
Continue to deepen the winter connection with my creative projects and ideas
Embrace the clarity of bare branches and the horizon seen ahead
Appreciate the structure and shapes in place and think about the longer term
Know and plan for what I hope will unfurl and grow in Spring
The seasonal manifesto for this winter feels nourishing and supportive for me for the months ahead. I tend to check in with my manifesto each week noticing where these themes and ideas are coming to life and where I could weave them in.
Wishing you a restful and restorative winter season.