The Cycles of Feminine Energy

Moving through the seasons both inside and out

Image by Bence Halmosi on Unsplash

Feet pushing through dry leaves and a chill on the breeze that chases through my hair. These are the sensations that greet me as I lean against the wooden frame of my back door, breathing in the uncluttered air.

Taking a pause in my day I look out over the treetops and notice the shift in light: the sun has already begun its descent. I feel a sense of relief that this long afternoon is coming to an end.

I love the summer. I eagerly await the long days in which I can expose my skin to the kiss of warm sunshine and the caress of wild waters. But just as that season passes and flows into the next, so do my moods and needs. After the extroverted, playful hot days, the autumn comes like a blissful permission slip to retreat once more, as though the lengthening shadows are chasing me back indoors.

Beneath the surface busyness of daily life, there is a clear flow, a cycle that we move through year upon year. We too follow this cyclical dance of the seasons in our lives, from vulnerable babies, hesitant and clinging to the strength of our parents, to energetic young people, rushing forward filling spaces, growing so fast the world around us can barely keep up. Then on into the fertile and abundant mid years of life where those thin and gangly limbs fill out, becoming more solid and certain of their place. Time flows onwards and the fruiting is followed by the later years, in which we stand in our full vibrancy, harvesting all that we have sown in our lives, all before entering the final decades with its increasing physical stillness and quieter lifestyle as we journey inward once more.

I watch this dance unfold here at the doorway between my carefully constructed life and the wild outdoors, and I wonder if my children are as conscious of it as I am. There is a field near my home where we like to walk. This week the ground will be soft, dotted with puddles, our boots will squelch even while they push through the dried leaves. We will walk slowly, enjoying the autumn light and the golden glow it casts, all while wondering how long it will be before the coats will have to join the jumpers we already wear.