Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: “Adopt the pace of nature.”
I’ve always felt society wanted life to move at a wildly fast pace — a pace I couldn’t keep up with. As a lover of slow things — leisurely walks, long conversations, daydreaming, reflecting and writing — I find today’s world so stressful, so full of pressure and expectation. We’re always moving on to the next thing without enjoying and immersing ourselves in the first.
In life, as in nature, there are seasons: moments of dark depression, periods of hope and opportunity, times when we feel so light with joy we could very well float away, and seasons that require us to change — to put to rest one part of ourselves and make room for the new.
In a society that values how much money you make more than it values your wellbeing, it can be difficult to slow down long enough to move through these seasons with any sort of grace. We often push our feelings aside and just ‘get through it’ — as if our personal lives are just one more item on our to-do list (and not our one single precious life on this earth)!
As a highly sensitive person who has struggled with depression and anxiety, I’ve been in the season of dark depression. Ive also know what it feels to recognize yourself coming back to life again. I’ve fallen wildly and passionately in love and know very well the buzzing energy in your belly that comes with it — how you can live off of it for weeks! I know what it feels like to be called to something more, the butterflies you feel knowing it’s time to let one thing go and move into something else.
I’ve moved through different seasons of life as courageously as I could and let life teach me, season after season, what I needed to learn. After a while, I learned not just to expect these changes in circumstances but to respect — and even admire — the cyclical nature of life.
I wanted to create a blog that literally was inspired by the seasons — I have plenty of ideas for seasonal activities to share with you! But I also wanted this blog to be a space that recognizes the different phases of life and the journey we are all on to find contentment, so I also have plenty of tips for self-care.
I hope this blog can be a reminder to slow down and get in touch with the world around you, no matter what season of life you’re in. Embrace it all!
Warmly,
Emma
xxx
Emma E. Bryant 