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Mid September greetings! Today, September 22nd, is Autumn Equinox, which is something I only recently heard about, but it got me thinking about this time of year as a freelancer. I adore autumn, it’s totally the season that chimes with me. From the colours and the temperature, to the food and the general feeling in the air. I love the way the trees say their goodbyes to summer so triumphantly, in a blaze of glory (yes, I also like Bon Jovi). And I feel, with my bright (fake) red hair, like I’m part of the season, too.
Autumn is a shedding of the heat, the high energy of summer, but I don’t see it as a bad thing. I like the cooling of the days and the crispness of the air and leaves. I know that might just be me, but today it’s pertinent because today is when autumn begins.
Now, I’m no expert in the equinox, so please do feel free to do further research, but as I understand it, today the day is the same length as the night, and traditionally it is a time for giving thanks for the harvest, for making your stores ready for winter. It’s also about shedding, like those trees. Casting off what doesn’t work for you - which can be a bit scary, but also liberating.
A bit of research points to the time of equinox in the UK (London/Birmingham when I searched a few times) is 14.30 - so you’re getting this around that time! This is quite a good piece on it, I think.
Not to be confused with the solstice (June and December), equinox marks the beginning of autumn. From now on, the days will get shorter again, the nights longer… and I suspect for many of you (as there are for me), there will be thoughts of HOW WILL I GET THROUGH WINTER?!
In pagan culture, equinox is time for a festival known as Mabon - it’s all about giving thanks for a good harvest - this piece explains a bit more too.
I also loved this post on insta - follow the hashtag #autumnequinox and you’ll find loads more!
So why am I writing about this for Freelance Feels? Well, I think there’s a lot to be said about looking at our ‘freelance harvest’ at this time. It can be so easy to look forward and never back, to never take stock or pat ourselves on the back. Autumn Equinox is the ideal time to do just that.
So - stop. STOP. Stop right now (thank you very much…). It’s time to dedicate a bit of the autumn equinox to considering your freelance harvest. What have you achieved this year? What seeds did you sow way back in January when ‘there’s a virus in China, you know’ and we all made plans and goals for the year ahead with the joyful abandon of people who could socialise in large groups, have face to face meetings and go to networking events?
You’ve probably been so busy, so frantic, or perhaps so quiet in your work life that it feels like there is anything BUT a harvest. I argue there will be and, if you take a moment now to consider it, it’ll give you some positivity to carry on into autumn.
A few suggestions to get you going: Did you reach out to a client(s) who you now work with regularly? How about that insta account you started for your business? If it has more than one follower, that’s some harvest right there. New clients? Getting rid of old/bad clients? Launching a website for your product or brand? Maybe you did some training and now have skills you can use in the coming season to generate new business.
Perhaps for you the harvest has been financial. Mine, not sooo much, but I look back and realise that the seeds of ‘I won’t work with low paying brands anymore’ that I sowed in spring are now a habit. I also realise I’ve kept paying the bills, so things must be going ok-enough.
I have made huge plans for a shift in my work, who I work with and what work I do, filling the ‘storecupboard’ with plans and goals, as well as ideas for new contacts to reach out to. It feels good - like I’m a freelance squirrel.
Maybe your harvest is about wellbeing. You’ve found a better work/life balance (perhaps thanks to Lockdown - well, I say thanks…) you have regenerated your business, or taken things sideways. Maybe you’ve been writing more blog posts, or given something up that actually wasn’t working and you didn’t have time for.
You don’t have to write it down, but it can help, I find. My advice is to make a drink, find a notepad or piece of paper, and write down what you’ve harvested. I hope - and I bet - it’s more than you might imagine on the days when it feels like nothing’s going right.
Then if you want to, you can also start to try and see how your freelance harvest will work for you in autumn and winter. If you’ve built up that blog, is it time to plan the blog themes for the rest of the year? If, like me, you started a newsletter, is it time for next steps to build engagement? If you made tons of cash, is it time to invest it in training, equipment or store it away incase winter is leaner? If you began a podcast, are you planning the autumn season, is it time for sponsorship or more engagement?
Here’s another post I saw on insta that I liked and if you’re that way inclined, you might want to read outloud…
Let me know how your harvest looks, and I’ll see you in October for the next newsletter when I’ll be exploring the Freelance Fear (yep, because, Halloween!). Wonder if I can carve a cactus shape into a pumpkin…
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