Looking back at my winter manifesto

In January I started a new seasonal practice of creating and sharing my seasonal manifesto. With each season it brings with it something new, a new chapter. My word this year is Awaken. I decided that I wanted to awaken more of a connection to the seasons than I have done before, awaken more awareness and awaken my senses.

I take real pleasure from noticing the changes that happen and love the blurry edges of the seasons as they move from one to the next. Over the past few months I've been connecting with my winter manifesto, sometimes documenting it through photography and sometimes not. With the signs of spring appearing around me, both meteorological and astronomical calendars ticking over into spring, and the clocks changing, I wanted to share with you what I have documented during that time. Here's a round up of my winter manifesto and what I brought into my life this season.

Escape from all things digital once a week...

During the first few months of the year I did disconnect from the internet and put down digital devices more frequently than I have done for a while. It felt freeing and I was able to be more present in what I was doing, whether it was reading a book, enjoying time in our home or just taking time out. I would like to do this more regularly and I am very tempted to add it into my spring manifesto to make it more of a mindful practice. I've managed to spend time reading magazines and dipping into books, rather than watching TV or being on my laptop.

Celebrate our 8 year anniversary...

Mr C and I met 8 years ago and every year since the first day we met we have marked the day as our anniversary. We celebrated our anniversary this year, the last one before we get married, with an impromptu night out for dinner at a local pub. We enjoyed the seasonal local food that was cooked beautifully and felt that it was a real treat to be eating out. Mr C bought me flowers and I bought him a card and a few bottles of ale to match some of his favourite foods.

Notice changes in the light and sky...

Over the past few months I've noticed the light changing. I've spent more time looking up and noticing the light and how it changes from week to week. The brighter mornings added a different kind of spring to my step and I love the moment when you realise you are leaving and returning to your home in daylight. The clocks changed last weekend and so darker mornings have reappeared into my routine but the longer evenings and light levels have been a wonderful change.

Handwrite a letter...

For the first time in about 10 years I sat down to write a letter at the end of January and over the past few months one letter has turned into a set of around eight letters. I always have a writing pad and matching envelopes in my stationary stash and so putting my hands on it was easy and felt like I was stepping back to a time before email. I immensely enjoyed the process of handwriting a letter once more, using the guidelines to ensure that the writing stayed neat. The time spent sitting down and writing personalised messages to friends, both for letters about elements of our wedding and giving a few friends the gift of life coaching has been a real treat and something I'd like to keep doing in my life more often. Today I have another wedding related letter to write to a dear friend. I'm hoping to spend some time out this month joining in with Susannah Conway's April Love - a month of love letters.

Make space for yoga...

I started making time for yoga at home earlier this year and had great intentions to build a regular practice. I felt at home on the yoga mat and enjoyed taking a 40 minute escape, however over the past month I haven't given myself the time to focus on making time at the mat. For me rebuilding this practice is really important to me so it will be on my spring manifesto as I aim to bring it more into my day to day.

Listen to something new...

During December the Blogtacular podcast was launched. Since then I've been listening regularly to the inspiring interviews that Kat Molesworth shares with a wide variety of creative people. For me it's like stepping back to the Blogtacular conference and having a deep and wonderful feeling like I'm learning something new and gaining a real insight into how these small business owners and bloggers are making their passions and interests come to life.

Decorate our home with seasonal items...

Over the past few months blankets have featured prominently around our home and hot water bottles,  as I've had the real need to hunker down during the cold winter evenings. Books inspired by the winter season have been displayed and magazines with wintery images have laid on our coffee table. I wanted to bring an element of nature into our home, as well as having seasonal items, and so after pruning our rose bush I decided to keep a few cuttings of the rose hips that had formed, and added them to a jug to decorate our sideboard.

Discover and cook a new recipe...

Mr C has been cooking many things this winter season and my input to our menu has been a little minimal! I'm very lucky to be with a passionate cook who likes to organise all of the meals. For me cooking is something that I want to spend more time doing and adding new seasonal meals to our weekly options. This month I've been perfecting some of our all time favourite pasta dishes but I haven't made anything new.

Read an inspiring book...

I read Rising Strong by Brene Brown during the winter months. It was an inspiring and thought provoking read so much so that I added it to my blog post I wrote recently about the sixteen brilliant books I'd recommend for 2016. Rising Strong was a book that I felt I really needed and wanted to read, the cover quote of "if we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall. This book is about getting back up" was a statement that sat with me and connected to part of me and my life.

Knit mittens...

I haven't managed to knit the mittens over the past few months which has been a real shame. What would normally be a time of crafting with yarn for me, this year has been replaced by studying for my coaching qualification and planning our wedding. I have really missed taking the time to make... but instead I have started to knit together plans for our wedding day, planning craft projects, deciding a few key elements of the day and thinking of ideas to create a personal and meaningful celebration. I've also begun knitting together in my mind all that I'm learning and trying to bring the new elements  of coaching into what I'm doing. So I may not have knitted mittens but I have managed to knit a few other things into my life!

Looking at the above makes me feel like I have brought a few different practices into my life. I haven't managed all of them and I really don't mind. For me setting a manifesto is about being more aware about the season and what I can do to express that in part of my life. Perhaps some of these elements may end up in my spring manifesto that I'm drafting at the moment, and some may not, but for me it's about having an intentional focus on a few things that I really want to bring into my life during the season.

My Winter Manifesto 2016

When I was younger I was obsessed by the weather and cloud formations and remember saying at a young age that 'the sky is like a piece of ever changing art'...at one point in my life I wanted to be a meteorologist...That desire and passion for watching the sky and noticing nature's changes is a practice that grounds me and sparks a flow of energy inside me. I studied geography at school, sixth form college, and then a masters degree for four years of my life. Despite not using the content of my studies in my day job, my passion for landscapes and understanding the natural features of the world lights me up and is with me unconsciously everyday. Noticing the changes in temperature, light, the weather, and plants during the year allows me to connect with nature. I'm sure we all do this is some way, don't we. For me having this connection really helps spark creative ideas and bring these thoughts into what I love to do and how I live my life.

Each season brings with it something new, a new chapter. I take real pleasure from noticing the changes and love the blurry edges to the seasons as they move to the next. My word this year is Awaken and with this in mind I have decided that I want to awaken more of a connection to the seasons than I have done before. I want to awaken more awareness and I want to awaken my senses.

To help me achieve this I'm writing a manifesto for each season of the year. A manifesto for me is a statement that pulls together my thoughts and the key things that what I want to get out of the season ahead and to help act as a guide. For me it's about thinking of the simple pleasures I love during the season, celebrating what the season brings, creating direction, actions, and practical and achievable intentions, with the outcome of connecting more to each season in an intentional and focused way. Life is full and creating a practice to allow myself to intentionally become more mindful is a such a good thing. Living with and observing the seasons is something that I do unconsciously, I adore it, but I want to awaken more of an awareness.

Writing a manifesto is not something new for me. Over the past few years I've written intentions and manifestos for the Christmas period, for both Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas online class and Ali Edwards December Daily project. Writing the introductions to each of these projects is one of my favourite ways to focus for the time ahead. Where I can over the past few years I've combined both approaches and I get immense pleasure from thinking through and living these actions during that time of year. I've been inspired by them and have decided to extend this practice to be an activity I enjoy all year round.

I've been living with my manifesto for a few weeks now and feel that it's time to put it out there. My manifesto for this winter is...

Escape from all things digital once a week

Celebrate our 8 year anniversary

Notice changes in the light and sky

Handwrite a letter

Listen to something new

Knit mittens

Decorate our home with seasonal items

Discover and cook a new recipe

Make space for yoga

Read an inspiring book

To create my manifesto I took time to hunker down and think. Over a few days I spent time with a notebook, blanket and cups of tea to journal my thoughts.

This week you may have noticed a few images popping up on my Instagram feed. I will add the hashtag #livingmywintermanifesto2016 to my images in Instagram to show you what I'm doing to bring in this new practice into my life. I'd love to hear about your intentions for this winter season so you might like to join in too and let me know your thoughts here or on my Facebook page.