Autumn equinox and early mornings

Why the change in season brings the perfect opportunity to reset the balance

Autumn equinox early morning in Hyde Park, London

I’ve been out of the habit for the past few months. My writing efforts irregular and my consistency on here waining slightly. I was in need of a reset.

Early last Saturday morning I Left the house before light boarding the surprisingly busy tube coffee in hand and my notebook gently tucked in my bag. It had been a few months since I had opened it, the notebook, and I’m not entirely sure why.

For a year and a half, I’ve established a consistent writing practice, most days at 8am I would log onto The London Writers Salon writers hour. With a head full of ideas, the pen swiftly making its way across the page, but over summer I had let that habit slide. It wasn’t about not having enough time, I have hours to play with each day, I just wasn’t achieving a balance.

On that morning, as I walked from Marble Arch tube station across Hyde Park, just as the sun was rising on the first day of autumn, I was hopeful. I was ready to reset my writing and go into the new season with more regularity, and so it seems were the other 15 or so other people I was sharing a few hours with on a Saturday morning with the brilliant

Gemma Seltzer

from Write and Shine (she also has a substack

Writing with the Seasons

)

What a wonder to sit amongst the ancient trees of the park, watching their shadows form through the wall of windows. My pen marking the page as the autumn equinox passed, for a few magical hours, everything was in perfect balance.

In those early hours the park came alive. It’s history present in each step as we walked, the hidden rivers flowing below and the huge reservoir beneath our feet. Above ground the fox cubs playing in a shaft of light in the dell and as the early morning riders talk, their horses stay in step along the promenade.

Everywhere in the park there was balance; between past and present, people and nature, summer and autumn. The balance between each was so perfect and harmonious and that’s exactly why I’m resetting and taking into the new season. This season is all about balance.

I loved this post by

Claire Venus

The More and Less List on

Creatively Conscious

It perfectly captures what it means to rest the balance with less of some things and more of others. Here are a few things from my own more and less list.

• More celebrating - autumn sees a birthday, an anniversary and a family celebration

• More adventure - this is our holiday season - we love the deserted beaches and quiet towns and villages

• More time in the garden preparing for next spring

• More reading and enjoying the cosiness as the light dwindles between evening and night

• More curiosity - I can’t wait to indulge mine with some inspiring book events this season

• Less prioritisation of productivity

• Less busyness

• Less time worrying about things that don’t matter

• More rest - doing nothing

• More calm - pause and breathe

• More time for writing and reflection

Are you resetting the balance? What’s on your list?