I’ve written about phenology before; today I want to talk about the seasons of creativity. It’s a New Year’s tradition of mine to take a bit of January to do some planning and goal setting. Some years it happens right at the turn of the calendar; other years it takes me a week or three to find the time.
But it always happens right around this time of year.
Maybe it’s because post-holiday season winter is just a fitting time to sit and plan. Maybe it’s because the previous busy season makes me ache for space to dream. Maybe it’s the freshness of a new planner that snaps me into organization mode.
Creative work has a seasonality, and it’s not just the work of it all. It’s the dreaming and planning that need their due. There will be plenty of time for doing later.
One of the things I like to do when setting goals is to think in terms of seasons. What do I hope to accomplish in the spring? What will my summer focus be? What will the fall hold? When you take a seasonal perspective, it’s a lot easier to set your sights on a few bigger goals than an overflowing list of small thing. It feels more focused. More productive. Less… overwhelmingly infinite.
Mostly for me it makes me realize just how finite a year is. In January, the year ahead feels huge. But by May or July or September, I’m lamenting how quickly it’s flying by. When I focus on the seasons, I only get four blocks of time. Four big spaces to put Big Things in. I get to learn, to build, to try – whatever captures my imagination. The days and weeks quickly fill in with the work of the year.
But the seasons, they’re mine.
