Surrender to Your Season of Life

How do you surrender to the version of yourself needed today?

October brought with it a wind I haven’t felt in years. Walking across campus, watching the first flutter of leaves swirl above me before floating to rest, I felt a shift in awareness. Something urging me to pay attention. This was the beginning of a new season.

Intuition is often the driving factor for most of my decision making. It’s something I’ve done as a default, almost unknowingly, for most of my life. The creative steps I take, the words I write, the spaces I wind up in. It always starts with a small moment of notice. The wind blowing through the trees. Water rippling in a pond. A word or a phrase I keep seeing over and over.

The University of Arkansas

The last two years were a constant state of deadlines. Crafting two magazines with no prior knowledge kept me on the precipice of triumph. My days filled with editing, designing, and reworking the layout while I pored over expressions from other artists and googled every single question I had in regards to building a magazine. It very much felt like the project I needed to work on at that moment in time. By crafting something bigger than me, I felt as though I was opening avenues for my future self to explore. It was a time for collaboration and finalization.

But during the months spent on the second issue, I kept feeling this beckoning to create something for myself. A nostalgic gust kept reminding me of the times I would sit and write at my desk for hours simply because I had to get the words out. I would fill pages and pages of documents with poetry, essay topics, and streams of consciousness. Something I haven’t taken the time for in quite a while. 

This was a time in my life that I feel incredibly attuned. I paid attention to the details life seemed to throw at me. I analyzed every feeling of block, stifle, or flow. I listened when I felt as if I needed a project, which brought me Continental Social. Observing this awareness placed me near spaces that wouldn’t have otherwise been there.

So how do you surrender to the season of life you’re supposed to be living? How do you know you’re in alignment?

Intuition

It can seem impossible listening to that inkling of a moment when you haven’t tuned for a while. It’s subtle, but you’ll feel the tug. Just like with creativity, if you ignore these expressions, they will come back louder. Listening to your own inner voice is the first step to surrendering to the version of yourself needed today. Only you can notice what feels right and what may be blocked.

Everyone’s intuition is different. Sometimes it’s a feeling. Other times, it’s pattern recognition. Yours may be an inner voice that seems to give you the answer before you can even finish your thought. Intuition is just the body’s subconscious processing system designed to relay information before our conscious minds can make a fuss of it.

Be Open to Guidance

Let life guide you. Once you open up to the possibility that life has your best interest in mind, you’ll notice avenues for yourself you didn’t think were possible. This mindset shift will train you to look at life through a lens of creative exploration and play, rather than closed doors.

It helps to maintain a sense of positivity, even if that entails a slice of delusion. “Life is always looking out for me,” is a mantra I like to quote to myself when I’m feeling stuck and uncertain.

Instead of seeing lack, you’ll find a gap where knowledge can be filled. When you run into obstacles, you’ll create new solutions rather than turning back. Neuroplasticity proves that rewiring your thought patterns lead to a physical rewiring of the neurons in your brain. The more you train yourself to believe life is looking out for you, the more your brain will quite literally begin to make those connections.

Be Willing to Adjust

It’s not about being aligned, but rather, what you do to set yourself up for alignment. So worry less about adhering to a rigid schedule. Be willing to adapt. Maintaining flexibility will reward you in opportunities you might not have seen coming. It will also give you leeway when things don’t go according to plan. Throughout life you may find yourself in unknown waters, but being adaptable gives you the ability to pivot.

Surrendering to the version of yourself needed today may take a little trial and error. Making mistakes is just the process of carving out your story. Not everything is going to work the first time around, and more than likely, it’s going to take a while to find your footing. This doesn’t mean you aren’t in the season of life you’re meant to be in.

When you feel this wind, know that life is creating space for you to step into your next level. By surrendering, you’re allowing your future self to take shape. Prioritize these aspects of life and watch as you become the version of yourself meant for this season.