‘Tis the Season to Decompose

Anyone else feeling the pull to slow down, curl inward, and decompose?

 This is your annual reminder that the expectations of December don’t align with the energetics.

 I often turn to nature as my wisest teacher. Since our move from Jersey to Northern California this past summer, I’ve been learning a lot from observing the rhythms of this land. When we arrived in July, the heatwave had left the landscape scorched and dry.

 Now, as winter embraces us, we’ve had more rainy days than sunny ones. Despite the trees shedding their leaves, the landscape feels a little like spring to me—bright green grass sprouting and rich moss wrapping itself around the tree trunks.

On a recent walk with Reishi, I reflected on this duality: the outward signs of growth juxtaposed with my inner pull to rest, simplify, and let parts of myself gently break down.

 Then it hit me: the grass that was scorched over the summer has become an offering to the soil. As it decomposes and is nourished by the rain, it’s creating the fertile ground that makes all this new growth possible. So, while the Earth looks like it’s bursting with life, it’s really in a season of decomposition. Suddenly, my own craving to decompose feels more natural and sacred.

I wrote this in my very first newsletter two years ago, and it feels just as true today:

As we all know, the New Year is approaching. Can I share a potentially unpopular opinion? I think it's strange that we set new year resolutions and big plans to make shifts in our lives at this point of year. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for planting seeds of intention. But that's just it—we are in the midst of winter…we are of nature… and therefore this is the time for planting seeds, not uprooting them. This season calls us to slow down, to go inward, and to rest. All of this is in stark contrast to the pressures of modern society asking us to continue producing at the same output while also navigating the complexity of the holiday season.

While the calendar may mark January 1st as the new year, I believe the true energetic beginning arrives with the Spring Equinox. Still, there’s a collective significance in turning the page to a new calendar year and I have to admit I love the fresh feeling it brings.

But here, in the dead of December, I can’t help but ask, is it really seasonal depression or is it the wisdom of your being that knows better, pushing against societal expectations? Is something wrong with you or are you resisting the natural cycles that exist within your bones?

& Let’s keep it real: I also don’t love the sun setting at 5pm, but that is besides the point. The point is this permission slip: 

 Let the scorched parts of your soul, the overwork, the unmet expectations, the inner critics, return to the Earth of your wise, animal body. Let them break down. Let them nourish the fertile soil within you, where your next season of growth will take root.

Because this, too, is sacred work. Decomposition is an act of creation—the quiet alchemy of turning endings into beginnings. Just as mycelium weaves through the soil, breaking down what no longer serves to feed what’s to come, so too can you trust this quiet alchemy within yourself.

This is the beauty of winter.

I'll leave you with this inquiry: What parts of yourself are asking to be returned to the Earth? What new growth might these offerings nurture?