Seasons of Mist and Writing Fruitfulness

Seasons of Mist and Writing Fruitfulness

Today is Monday the first of January 2024 – It’s always odd writing the date for the first time in a new year. I dare say I’ll spend the coming weeks still writing 23 rather than 24, in much the same way I spend the weeks after the clocks going forward or backwards by an hour saying: “It would have been… INSERT TIME HERE.”

When the clocks last went forward, October 2023, it marked the change from Autumn to Winter in many ways, but also plunged the days into further darkness. I try to see the shorter daylight hours as cosy times to snuggle up at home of an evening – but in reality, I struggle to adjust and hate waking in darkness and my children coming home from school when night has already arrived.

But, as we are now past the Winter Solstice, and the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight hours, it feels as though I am slowly tiptoeing my way back to lighter days, and the happiness I feel as Spring approaches.

Spring is my favourite time of year – I love the crisp, fresh days, when it’s still chilly but the sun is bright and bringing a little more warmth – birds are busy building nests, buds are bursting, and new life is blooming all around.

I love nature, and I always try to bring it into my writing. Whilst the seasons will always come and go, and with them all manner of changes, there is always beauty and inspiration to be found in the world around us. So, even on the darkest of days, both in terms of day versus night, or the darkness of what life has in store, I will look to nature, and spend time outside letting it inspire and heal me, and for it to recharge my creative battery.

I’ll leave this post with a link to a poem I have loved since my teens and one that inspired the title of my post – a poem that feels fitting given the subject matter and themes explored – Ode to Autumn by John Keats, I hope you enjoy it either in reading or listening to the audio available at the link, and find peace and inspiration in the beauty of nature around you.

To Autumn by John Keats | Poetry Foundation