Belonging

I am always drawn to the word “belonging” – it’s a basic human need to feel a sense of belonging, to feel connected to something greater than ourselves. 

The Springtime blessing quoted above is from a book called “Cycles of belonging” by Stella Tomlinson published by Womancraft Publishing. It is a delightful guide to “unlocking the powers of cyclic living to lead a more fulfilling, meaningful and wholehearted life”.

Flowing with the cycle of the seasons

In feng shui we draw deeply on the natural cyclical rhythms of the seasons to create a flow from one “season” of life to another. This deepens our sense of belonging within our homes and within the greater scheme of life around us.

In so doing we honour and support each and every facet of our lives: 

• Spring: our family/roots and connection to community. Birth; the beginning of our life, as babies and young children, we experience rapid growth and development, this essence of youth and vitality is associated with the wood element, which deepens our sense of rooted belonging and supports future growth and development.

• Early Summer: welcoming the blossoming of many blessings in life. At every stage of our lives it is important to make time and space to enjoy the various ways we feel blessed.

• Summer: Clarity: enlightenment, expressing our fullest selves into the world. Adulthood;  When we come of age, become fully grown and take our place in the world, expressing who we are as individuals, shining a light on our talents. This is archetypal fire energy which supports recognition, and lights the way forward on our journey through life at every stage of our development.  
• The Summer Solstice: A balancing point to pause between the seasons: stabilising our energy, time and space to enjoy and deepen our relationships with one another. 

• Late Summer: Settling in, establishing ourselves, enjoying where we are now. Middle age; As we get older and have gathered many experiences, our energy slows a little. We consolidate our life experiences, slowing down the pace of progression to enjoy what we have gathered thus far. This is a more settled and established energy associated with the earth element, which supports stability and balance.

• Autumn: harvesting the fruits of our labour, gathering, celebrating and sharing our blessings with those around us. Later life toward Retirement; no longer any need for further progression in our work, this is a time of stability when we settle into a quieter pace of life and enjoy the fruits of our life’s labour. This condensing and consolidating energy is associated with the Metal element, which supports cutting back whatever is no longer necessary and gathering in and ring fencing what is now important to us in life.

• Late Autumn: Time to delight in what we have achieved, en-joying ourselves, revelling in our creative abilities. This is often a very creative phase in our lives when we have the time and freedom to do what brings us most joy. 

• Winter: going deeper into our life-path or personal journey through this lifetime. marking the ending of  a way of life and the journey into regeneration; death is the journey into the unknown. In winter, mother nature lets go of  the  physical accumulation and growth achieved in this cycle of life, ready to regenerate in another form.This represents the energy of stillness, and marks the end of a process or phase; the pause before beginning again and is associated with the water element.
• Winter Solstice: A balancing point between the seasons: spending time in quietude to connect to where we are now, stabilising our energy before we re-emerge transformed and cycle through the seasons again.

We cycle through all of these seasons many times throughout our lives.

We can look at this cycle of change annually over a 9 year cycle reassessing how we are aligned with our preferred trajectory in life. 

Most of us will be drawn to reassessing the application of feng shui design to our living and working spaces at times of greater transition in our lives. This will stabilise and support our energy through these phases of change. 

Learn more about how to integrate the 5 elements/cyclical seasonal energies of nature into every area of your home to support ourselves as you journey through life in my book A Place to Call Home, your feng shui guidebook for design, connection and belonging.

Blessings!

Whatever season of life you find yourself in, I wish you many blessings as Spring blooms and blossoms new life into being! 

Edel