Gone Are the Calender Days
Remember how plans would remain long enough in it till they would actually take place?
Well, this has changed drastically since the pandemic.
The rhythms of the days lined mainly by predicability are over.
However, by stopping the grasp of time by way of my agenda, I find myself delving into a pace that feels way more gentle, more nurturing and alive.
I reckon that a crisis like this holds the power to emphasise what has been dismissed into the margins of society. Something that in fact has never abandoned us.
Charted by the ripeness of fruit or the rotten covers of late autumn, by the sunrise and sunset, migration of geese and the flow of tides, life for me is far more real, far more vulnerable, and yes, far more rewarding.
There is healing in nature’s rhythms.
Light clock in December, in the Northern Hemisphere
A compass for navigating life rooted in nature is possible.
And however disregarded by the current modern lifestyle, our bodies still remember such an ancestral way of living.
Not only confined to the square agenda, why not embed more of the cycles and seasons in our lives?
Nature takes it’s time. A slower beat that does not rush or wait for a green light. A steadiness found beyond the calendar — in the tree outside, the birds that always return in spring or the moon that always wax and wane.
A steadiness that belongs to your body too.
In fact, if you are willing to try, I join you.
Here’s one practice. For me this is a daily routine, since I live off-grid. And here in the Netherlands, during the shortest time of the year it can get dark around 16 O’clock. Candle light, no-screens, early rest, storytelling and sleep. By experience I know this to improve sleeping patterns, restore energy levels and sparkle imagination.
When it gets darker outside try to reduce and dim the eletrical lights at home. Shut off screens and if you like, light some candles. Take a moment to sit or lay down comfortably and simply perceive the places where your body, such as head, back and pelvis are meeting the couch, chair, bed. Take the time you need to yeld and feel the contact and support. Allow your eyes to soften by diffusing your vision and blend it with the dark. Now, you can close your eyes and turn your gaze inward. Let the dark sharpen your senses. Notice how your ears can hear, your nose can smell, your mouth can taste and your skin can feel. Wrapped in the blanket of a darker environment, allow as well the definitions attached to your body to melt a bit. Bring the tides of breath to your attention. Air gliding in, air gliding out. Your body is like an ocean, continuously rising and receding. Simply welcome your organic rhythm. And let our mind sink deeper into your heart. The dark around you is like a cradle: rocking you into the world of idle and imagination.
Clarity arises from the dark, same way the day is born from the night. Time carries on and nature thrives without our planing anyway.
Why not welcoming nature as our life’s compass?
For me, gone are the calendar days.