What Season Are You In?

Twice a year, we reach an equinox: a turning point when day and night are roughly equal in length.

The September equinox means different things depending on where you live. Here in the Southern Hemisphere, we’re moving into spring. The days are getting longer, the trees are putting out new leaves, and the garden is waking up. In the Northern Hemisphere, the same moment marks the beginning of autumn: shorter days, cooler weather, and a gradual turning inward.

I love that the same day can mean beginning in one place and letting go in another.

It reminds me that there isn’t one correct pace for everyone. It also raises a more personal question: What season are you in?

Because even if it’s spring outside your window, it might not feel like spring in your life.

We have seasons, too

We tend to expect ourselves to be consistent. We should have the same energy, ambition and capacity every week. We should know what we want, make a plan and keep moving forwards.

But our lives aren’t linear.

There are times when an idea begins to take shape. Times when we have the energy to act on it. Times when the work is less exciting and we simply need to keep tending what matters. There are also times when something ends, whether we chose that ending or not. And sometimes we need a period of rest before we can see what comes next.

These are all part of living. Yet we often treat the quieter seasons as though something has gone wrong.

If you’re resting, you may tell yourself you’re falling behind. If you’re uncertain, you may feel pressure to make a decision before you’re ready. If you’re outgrowing a relationship, a role or a way of living, you might keep trying to make it work because you don’t yet know what will replace it.

The equinox offers a moment to pause and notice what’s actually happening, rather than what you think should be happening.

When your inner season doesn’t match the one outside

You could be heading into spring in South Africa while privately grieving an ending. You could be watching the leaves fall in the UK while something exciting is finally beginning in your life.

You might be in different seasons in different parts of your life, too. Your work could be growing while your marriage feels stuck. You might be ready to change how you relate to your family while still needing rest in your body. You could feel hopeful about your future and sad about what you’re leaving behind.

That doesn’t mean you’re confused. It means you’re human.

I think we make things harder for ourselves when we decide we ought to feel a certain way because of the calendar, our age, or where other people seem to be in their lives. A woman in her forties or fifties might be told she should have everything figured out by now. In reality, this can be the very stage of life when she begins to ask whether the life she’s built still fits her.

That question deserves space. It doesn’t need to be rushed into a tidy answer.

A way to take stock

If you’re curious about your own season, take a little time with these questions. You don’t need to answer all of them. Notice which one catches your attention.

What is beginning?
Perhaps there’s an idea you keep coming back to, a desire you’ve been dismissing, or a more honest way of living that’s starting to feel possible. Beginnings aren’t always dramatic. Sometimes they start with admitting, “I want something different.”

What needs tending?
Some things don’t need a fresh start; they need your steady attention. That might be a relationship, your health, your business, or a boundary you’ve set but find difficult to maintain. What matters enough to keep showing up for, even when progress is slow?

What is coming to an end?
This might be something visible, like a job or relationship. It could also be a role you’ve played for years: the one who keeps the peace, carries everyone else, or says yes when she means no. What feels increasingly difficult to keep doing?

What needs rest?
Rest isn’t always a reward for finishing everything. Sometimes it’s what allows you to hear yourself again. Where are you trying to push through when you’ve reached your limit?

As you sit with your answers, try to notice what’s yours and what comes from expectations you’ve absorbed along the way. That distinction can be surprisingly difficult to make when you’ve spent years being who other people needed you to be.

Living cyclically in real life

Seasonal or cyclical living doesn’t require you to abandon your responsibilities or reorganise your whole life around the equinox. Most of us still have bills to pay, people depending on us and ordinary Tuesdays to get through.

For me, it means paying attention to what this period of life calls for and making choices that reflect it.

If you’re in a season of beginning, that might mean taking one small step towards something you want instead of waiting until you feel completely ready.

If you’re in a season of tending, it might mean giving your attention to what you’ve already begun, rather than searching for the next big breakthrough.

If you’re in a season of letting go, it might mean acknowledging an ending before you know what comes after it.

And if you’re in a season of rest, it might mean being honest about your capacity and asking for support.

None of this is always comfortable. Knowing what needs to change and making that change are two different things. Old habits, family expectations, fear of disappointing people and practical concerns can all make it hard to act on what you know.

That’s why it can help to have someone alongside you as you work out where you are and what comes next.

Meet yourself where you are

The equinox gives us a moment to notice the changing light. Perhaps you could take a walk, sit outside with a cup of tea, or spend ten minutes writing about what’s beginning and what’s ending in your life.

There’s no need to arrive at a grand revelation. Start with an honest answer to one question:

What season am I actually in?

Then ask what kind of support that season needs from you.

If you’d like some support making sense of where you are, what’s keeping you stuck and what you want your next chapter to look like, book a free discovery call with me HERE. We can talk about what’s happening in your life and explore how I could support you from where you are right now.