A Different Story About Winter

August, here we are!

The month that always feels a bit in-between, don’t you think? Technically it’s still winter but my mind and body begin to search for murmurs of spring.

I grew up with an ‘I don’t like winter’ attitude in the warm subtropics of southern Queensland.

Winter always felt like an intrusion. A thing to endure. Something to get through before life could kick off with gusto again.

I held onto that story for most of my life, until we moved to southern New South Wales.

Last year I realised how much I was missing by resisting an entire season. How much energy I was spending wishing it away instead of appreciating what it had to offer.

Growing up, rain belonged in summer. I have fond recollections of those humid afternoon storms that rolled through and left inches of rain, or simply put on a nice lightning show.

Here, in this more temperate climate, the seasons are very different. Summers are dry. Winter brings the rain.

The two still don’t quite assimilate for me, but they’re beginning to.

Where the thought of boggy ground and 10 degree days once horrified me, this winter I’ve been taking notice of what’s beautiful about these days. I’m beginning to enjoy the seasonality of life more.

The crackling fire. The crispness of the air. Snuggling under thick blankets. Indoor projects. Watching the rain fall while accepting that the outside world can wait.

I’m learning to trust that those outdoor projects around the house and garden will still be there when the warmer weather returns and I naturally gravitate back outdoors.

Although if you’ve been watching my social media lately, it probably looks like life has been all outward movement.

Book launches.

Speaking events.

Interviews.

Travel.

From the outside, it’s looked like a season of expansion. But inside our home there’s been a lot of wintering.

As I’ve cared for one of our sons since late term 1 through neurodivergent burnout, school can’t and mental health distress, it’s required so much of me.

Recent months have felt like such a contradiction — doing more outward-facing work while simultaneously feeling deeply called inward and tethered to home. To be speaking publicly while spending so much of my private life caring.

I feel that pull often, of wanting to hermit while also wanting to connect and share my voice.

Perhaps that’s the nature of seasons. Not just in nature, but in our personal and professional lives too.

I felt it strongly at my Echuca Seen Again launch wearing the dress I’ve received many beautiful compliments on (thank you xx).

In the photos I look so confident but I questioned my dress choice right up until the minute I got in the car to drive to the launch.

Was it too much?

Too bold?

Too noticeable?

I worried about my lumps and bumps being on display. I worried about standing out. I worried about looking like I was showing off.

I knew that once I stepped into that room there’d be nowhere to hide.

But I also knew if I was going to send a book into the world about women seeing themselves again… then I needed to model allowing myself to show up and be seen.

Of course feeling seen doesn’t have to mean wearing the brightest dress in the room or having your hair professionally styled. It’s not about that.

It’s about what feels good to you personally, even when it feels vulnerable. Being seen isn’t necessarily about confidence. It’s about courage. It’s about every time we say: this feels risky but it also feels good and I’m going to be okay.

Because that’s what Seen Again is really about.

It’s about acknowledging yourself. Honouring yourself. Celebrating yourself.

Giving yourself permission to stop hiding.

It was such a beautiful event.

Maybe this is what winter has been trying to teach me all along… not to resist the season I’m in, not to rush toward spring, not to believe growth only happens in the sunshine.

Sometimes growth looks like staying home. Sometimes it looks like caring. Sometimes it looks like saying no. Sometimes it looks like allowing yourself to be exactly where you are.

🌿 Seen Again: The Immersion, 2-5 September

Taking place in the first few days of spring, this three-night immersion at Sky High, near Daylesford Vic, is for you if you’re craving a break from the constant-ness of life, wanting time to reconnect with yourself, be beautifully taken care of and gently guided through the Seen Again journey of self-illumination with me.

You know how it can often feel like a sprint from this time of year until Christmas? I see this as an opportunity to recalibrate as you come out of wintering. You’ll set the rest of the year up with intention instead of operating with old patterns and stories.

There are 3 places remaining and registrations close midnight 16 August (4 days time). Here are the details. If you fly from interstate, get yourself to Melbourne airport and we’ll take care of you from there. ❤️

As I wrap up, I want to say a huge thank you to those of you’ve purchased Seen Again or supported its entry into the world in some way. I am very grateful and honoured!

Thank you for being here. As always, hit reply and let me know what this post brings up for you. Go well!

With love,

Benita x