Hello there, dear readers. I hope you’re all doing well. Over here, the foot of snow (roughly 30 cm of snow) we had is finally melting. There are areas just outside the house that are still covered in a significant amount of thick ice. This winter, I did not manage to shake my Fall Risk status, and I definitely ate shit at least once while taking groceries into the house. Thankfully, the damage was only bruising. 

Slowing Down

I’ve talked about toxic hustle culture before on this blog, and it is still a monster that many of us battle on the regular. But, I thought I would add to that topic a little this week in the form of introducing the concept of Fallow Seasons. Now, I am definitely not the person who came up with this topic, and certainly not the first to apply it to magic. But, there are times when the fields out here just cannot be productive. Planting the same, or even rotating different crops year after year will drain the soil. You’ll get decreasing yield until you get nearly nothing—and I think the same applies to people. Sometimes you just have to let that field lay fallow for a year, or two years, and put in the effort to rebuild the soil. 

I think we should all take the time to do that for ourselves. And I’m not talking about just the concept of ‘resting’ or doing less work, I’m talking about taking a significant portion of time to recognize as your own ‘Fallow Season’ and what that means. 

Going Fallow

Winter has always been rough on me. I’ve been sensitive to the cold my whole life, and my body has always been firmly in the camp of ‘we should be sleeping the winter away,’ regardless of what responsibilities I have had. It’s dark, it’s cold, and sometime it’s windy—which makes all of the previous even worse. I also don’t tend to do a lot of magic in the winter, instead lazing about, binging podcasts, and playing video games between bouts of crippling guilt. 

I spoke to a friend about this and she, quizzically, asked “Isn’t winter your fallow season? That’s what you’re supposed to be doing.” So we have been trying to make a change of mindset over here. I’m still going to my day job, and I’m still delivering regular posts to you. I’m even just finishing up new graphics for stickers and bookmarks for my spring vending event. Do I not deserve my naps? Do I not deserve to laze about and rest like the soil underneath the snow? I have strong roots, and they are just biding their time until it’s time to grow again.

To go fallow for a bit means to not just rest, but to actively save and build your strength for a better time. To actively fill your cup and wait for the thaw—or whatever seasonal metaphor you best fit with. 

After all, there is no plant that bears fruit in all seasons. The idea that we should too is a bit of a monster of modern capitalism. What season do you go fallow in? Or is it not tied to the seasons at all?