Warmth radiates from the sturdy wood stove in our living room. I sit on the couch with my mug of coffee in hand and look out our front window. Outside, not much is stirring. The world still seems asleep in its chilly shroud. Here, inside, it’s quiet and peaceful and cozy.
As November winds down, nature slowly retires. The last of the leaves fall, creating one last colorful blanket beneath the trees. In the dismal gray, any shred of color glows. Red berries, yellow grasses, green pine shine out amidst the brown and black of decay. Trees once full of green now show only their bare bones. The luxuriant forest of summer is gone and reveals the tousled underbrush where a few small animals scurry looking for food. As we take our daily walk, we are reminded to slow down, unwind, let go.
In the next four weeks, there will be plenty of busy minutes and hours. With the holidays approaching, we humans tend to increase the pace, ramp up the work, add on to the schedule. I’ll be baking, cutting cheese, making block prints, writing and decorating the house, all things I enjoy. There will be gatherings and gifts and gastronomical delights. But as nature reminds me, my focus will be on those moments of down time. If I don’t give myself those, I won’t be at my best in my work.
Have you seen those reels that gather a small moment of each day into a summary of a month or a year? Often, the most meaningful images are not the active ones but rather those that reflect a feeling or a mood. My favorite movies are that way as well: each frame could be its own story. It requires serious editing to get each scene perfectly right.
Here is how I do it then. I make each gesture deliberate. I try to plan ahead while leaving space for the spontaneous. I live my life in the way I want it to be, not as someone else dictates. I dream about what might be possible and work at making it happen. I live positively yet accept the failures that are part of the process. I continually give thanks for the good that comes my way. In this season of shoulds, I remember to pause and prioritize myself.
Maybe this is all I need as November comes to an end: to linger in these moments of stillness and allow myself to breathe, to carve space on the calendar for pondering, to find niches of calm and joy, to make room for the magic of this time of year.
Beautiful photographs!
I love your wood-stove set-up! We have had a Jotul for years but unfortunately, it is now just decoration as we haven't figured out how to set it up in a fire-proof way in our house.