About this issue:

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Our planet has seasons for a reason.  It’s managed by the sun and the moon, and so are our oceans and our plants, thus so are we.  The fall equinox is all about harvesting.  Harvest is defined by webster as, “the process or period of gathering in crops.”  So, how do we harvest ourselves?  How do we harvest our intentions?  How do we know what’s ready to bring home versus what’s not quite ripe?  How do we know what is just shedding for something new versus what is actually dead and needs to be thrown out?  

 

Think of yourself as a gardener with a garden.  You have the duty of nurturing, growing, and harvesting your own garden.  So in this season what or how do we harvest the seeds we planted this past spring, or in any other season – in order to prepare for the stillness and rest of Winter.

 

Tangent, but stick with me, it’s all connected:

 

For a long time I believed there was something I was moving towards. Like there was going to be a moment in my life, whether a certain age, or a certain career achievement, or a personal milestone - that I would feel like yep, I did it, I made it here, I made it to the point where everything makes sense and I’m where I’m supposed to be - doing what I’m supposed to be doing. 

 

I don’t know if it was turning 30 or expanding my mind through meditation and psychedelics… but listen:  there’s no end state. There’s no finish line. There’s no moment or point in your life that things become crystal clear and easier to maneuver. There’s none of that. With time and experience we all just get better and quicker at adjusting/adapting to things life has to present us.  When we live life moving towards a finish line, nothing feels fulfilling because we believe that our trophy is at the finish line - it’s not.  Instead of thinking of goals as means to an end, think of goals as seeds.  Goals are seeds that we plant.  We cultivate a good growing environment, we water and nurture, we even encourage shedding and repotting.  And our trophy at the finish line is our own selves.  

 

Like Jenifer Lewis said, “be happy on your way to happy, you carry yourself with you, you can’t run but you meet yourself when you get there babies, you can’t run.” (source)

 

So instead of living life to get to a finish line where you think everything will come to a head and make sense and you walk away with a trophy - think of your life as a bunch goals.  Seeds you plant and nurture and harvest when they’re ready.  And some seeds may never grow while others may grow in abundance.  And at the end of it all…. Well that doesn’t fucking matter because there’s no finish line so just keep planting your seeds.

 

So the thought of the harvest is that it's time to check on all the seeds you've planted - could've been at the beginning of the year or throughout your life, no timeline.  So many of operate off the New Year, so like most, I planted some of my seeds at the beginning of the year:

• Relationship Killers - my first short film was entering the festival circuit. I planted this seed when we started submitting to Festivals in January.  We're still in our circuit, so this seed is not ready to harvest.  Will keep riding this film festival wave until it's over.

• Finish writing my second book of poetry.  I planted this seed at the beginning of this year.  Wasn't sure how long it would take me to write and catalogue my poetry, but I actually finished writing back in June, and got the book back from the publisher in September so she's ready to release come January 2023!  This see is ready to harvest.

• Plan a Pop-Up Galley.  I actually forgot I wrote this as one of my longterm goals like 5 years ago.  It's amazing what you'll find in your journals.  So I actually started planning this back in June, and so far so good.  This seed is ready to harvest - we've graduated from planning to executing.  My first pop-up gallery will be this December!

• Write my first feature screenplay.  Well I'm doing it!  I've completed my outline/treatment and have started on the script.  This seed is not ready to harvest, BUT we're close!  I think this baby will be ready to bloom before Winter so I can let it be before I start pitching, or whatever will be next.

• French language proficiency.  Man I started out really strong.  I've been teaching myself French for about two years using the Babbel App and I've made progress, but this was supposed to be the year I felt hella comfy with the language.  No excuses, just life happening and me putting it on the backburner.  This is not ready to harvest, it's probably one of my oldest, slowest growing seeds - lol but that's ok, we're gonna get there!

• More yoga and massages, really focusing on body care.  Yeah this seed started growing and was flourishing until about April.  It's shedding and growing a new though, not dead yet!  

• More adventures with my dog Nike.  This seed is not ready to harvest.  Nike got a foxtail, followed by tearing her CCL so that halted all of our adventures.  We're still taking it slow which I hate, but I've learned a lot about myself in how I take care of myself when I am injured or in need of gentle treatment.. I'm actually horrible at being gentle with myself so I'm learning how to do that better through Nike.

• Less self-criticism and more self-gratitude.  Yes yes, ready to harvest.  Planted this seed over a year ago and I've maintained awareness of it.  It's a daily practice, but it's one that has bloomed and is absolutely ready for harvest!

 

I say all this to say, that as we enter into this fall equinox and harvest our things for winter, be cognizant of what you need to bring home with you versus what’s either not ready to harvest, or what roots have rotted and it’s time to discard. Let’s prep our minds and spirits and our homes for the winter. Winter is all about sitting still and resting but many of us are trash at that, so how do we prep our minds to be still and to be at peace in that stillness?  HARVEST what we need from the garden we’ve been growing within us all year, while knowing there’s no finish line, just endless/limitless soil for our seeds to grow. 

 

P.S.  Your seeds are just pieces of yourself.  Your garden is all of you.  You are the trophy at the finish line.  

 

All Love,

Assia