Seasonal Sparks: 1st October 2023
And so it begins
I am in my element right now. The heat of summer, that I find so overwhelming these days, has receded and there’s a distinct bite to the breeze. The sun is still bright, but it’s lower in the sky, softer. I’ve written already about the things I love about autumn - cosiness, bright colours, the sharp contrast between light and dark, the ritual of lighting a fire and candles in the evenings, and spending time foraging and baking. This is also the time I start making presents for Christmas - I have things to knit, that will take a while, and there are blackberries and redcurrants picked in August soaking in gin. I’m looking forward to pumpkin picking, and Samhain celebrations at the end of the month. This is the time of year that I feel most connected to nature and in tune with the seasons, a feeling I want to cultivate throughout the rest of the year.
Below are your creative prompts for the week, along with some of my reflections on this part of the month. Each creative prompt is written as a standalone exercise. Some of them are designed to get you doing some creative work, but others are designed to get you doing some work on you as a creative. For the activities that ask you to create, you could take each one separately; or, if you’re already working on a particular project, you could incorporate these prompts into that work and consider the concepts through that lens (if you’re writing a novel, for example, how would your main character respond to the topic?).
Do let me know how you get on with your creative practice - share what you’re working on in the comments, I’d love to see!
Sunday 1st October
Signs of autumn and seasonal change
We officially entered autumn with the Autumn Equinox last week, and, now that we’ve