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I recently started listening to Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. It got me thinking about the role that seasons and the Wheel of the Year are play in my own life. Like many of you, I don’t identify with any particular spiritual or religious group, nature-based or otherwise. But I take great comfort in following the seasons. It’s almost as if the seasons give me permission to slow down (winter); to be busy (spring); to spend extra time with friends and family (summer); and to spend time working on goals for the future (autumn). Every year I follow some iteration of this pattern.

As I think about the Wheel of the Year, I’ve been thinking about the contrast between following nature’s lead and my own reality. In our capitalist culture, there is no slowing down. Too often efficiency and production are the markers of a job well done. There is no time to slow down, no time to rest. We have to keep moving, moving, moving no matter the season. I struggle to reconcile the fast pace of everyday life with the my desire to follow nature’s rhythm.

I used to think I must be lazy because I didn’t eat, sleep, breath my job, like some people do. But as I’ve grown in my career, I’ve come to realize that my work-style and leadership style are just… different.

My strengths come from the fact that I do try to follow the seasons as much as possible, even in the office. I take more time off in the winter and summer. I capitalize on the energy of spring to start projects. I use the back-to-school energy of fall to get organized and start planning out new initiatives. And I encourage my staff to do the same. Of course, this doesn’t always go as planned, but following nature’s lead helps keep me from being swallowed whole by my job, running from fire to fire, with no end in sight.

Along with following the seasons, I use each of the Wheel of the Year holidays to pause, reflect and align/realign with my core values and intentions. If I am feeling off kilter, checking in with myself, even just briefly, during a WOTY sabbat helps to move me off autopilot and be more intentional with my time and energy.

Basically, my personal philosophy is kind of like the popular quote: