June Was A Time to Reflect

 Each month I have a different theme that helps me to focus on slowing down and living more rhythmically. 

June's word has been REFLECT. 

As we reach the midpoint of the year, it felt like the right time to stop measuring progress by what I had produced and instead ask a gentler question:

What is this season trying to teach me?

Reflection isn't about criticising the past. It's about noticing what has quietly emerged, what deserves to continue, and what may be ready to end.

Looking to Nature

I paid particular attention to the simple things that have traditionally marked winter.

Bay leaves reminded me that wisdom develops slowly, just as flavour deepens in a pot that's allowed to simmer. Star anise became a symbol of warmth, patience and trusting that not everything needs to happen immediately.

Tea tree, with its clean Australian scent, became part of my winter rituals. It represented clarity, cleansing and the opportunity to create a calmer, more intentional home.

The camellias blooming through winter were a quiet reminder that beauty doesn't wait for perfect conditions. They flourish during the coldest months, encouraging me to do the same.

Nourishing the Season

Rather than chasing complicated recipes, I leaned into simple winter food.

Warming soups appeared regularly on the table, making the most of seasonal mushrooms and slow cooking.I am yet to bake a spiced apple crumble—a comforting reminder that ordinary seasonal traditions are often the ones we remember most - but theres a few days left until June has gone. 

These meals weren't just about food; they became opportunities to slow down, gather together and embrace the rhythm of winter.

Music and Wisdom

My soundtrack for June was The Long Way Around by The Chicks. You can here my whole playlist for June on spotfify here. 

It felt like an appropriate reminder that the most meaningful lessons often arrive slowly. There are very few shortcuts to wisdom.

John O'Donohue's words stayed with me all month:

"Beginnings always hide themselves in endings."

As the Winter Solstice arrived and the days slowly began to lengthen again, I found myself reflecting on what I wanted to leave behind in the first half of the year and what I hoped to carry forward.

Marking the Season

June is rich with natural and practical milestones.

The Winter Solstice reminds us that even the longest night eventually gives way to light.

The King's Birthday long weekend offers permission to pause.

The end of the financial year provides an opportunity to reflect not only on our finances, but on how we've invested our time, energy and attention.

Together, these seasonal markers invited me to pause before rushing into the second half of the year.

Looking back, I don't think June asked me to accomplish more.

It asked me to notice more.

And perhaps that's the greatest gift reflection can offer. 

Did you get the chance to stop and reflect during June ? 

April Theme: Re-organise and Transition

In the Southern Hemisphere, April is in Autumn. 

The days here are still warmish, but there is a sneaking whisper in the wind. That whisper is saying 'winter's on its way'. 

This time of year always makes me think about the transition into winter. I start to prepare things for the cooler months. 

We often reserve spring time for cleaning, but there is a also a cleaning energy that arrives in April. It's more of a 'reorganise and transition' type of energy. 

I find myself packing things away from the summer, decluttering, washing bedding and preparing blankets knowing that I can still wash them and dry them in the warm sun well before winter arrives. 

I often think about herbs, oils, foods, flowers and other things around me with a seasonal view. 

It's a time for harvesting lots of rosemary, adding cinnamon to my coffee on cooler morings, using lavender oil on my pillow for a better sleep, baking apple pies and watching my trees turn from green to shades of yellow and then orange. 

My April summary would be:  

Word or Theme: Re-organise and Transition

Herb: Rosemary

Spice: Cinnamon

Oil: lavender

Fruit: apple

Colour: golden yellow

Seasonal Tasks: preparing bedding

Song: 59th Street Bridge Song (Simon & Garfunkel) 'Slow down'.

Garden tasks: harvest the last of the summer crops, prune back any overgrown plants, burn off the garden and tree lopping for charcoal and ash, prepare the soil and plant the winter crops like peas, broad beans, onion and garlic.

Does April bring a particular feeling for you each year ? What is happening where you live ?

Next year I will look back and see whether the April theme comes again on the wind.

Old Wisdom and the Spring Equinox in Australia

I just love spring! It has such a special feel to it.

The Spring Equinox happens in Australia between September 21 and 23. This year it happens today at 6.23pm.

Mathematically, we are at a quarter point for the seasonal year. Day and night are completely equal in time and from tomorrow day will be longer than night.

This balance in the earth’s days reminds me that we should stop and calibrate things in our own lives. We should seek balance. This often means that we need to do a clean sweep, re-evaluate and change things a little.

In days of old, the Spring Equinox held great hope to people because it symbolised the end of the cooler weather, the emergence of seedlings and the anticipation of new crops. The houses were opened and the soot of winter fires cleared out.

We still hold onto this time of ‘Spring Cleaning’. It’s time to pack away blankets, tidy our cupboards, donate clothing that doesn’t fit and generally de-clutter.

We take this time to sow our summer seeds, work out what seedlings we will need and think about harvesting what is abundant now.

Lavender is in abundance at the moment, which tells me it is time to make new skin care products and soap. After harvesting this crop of lavender and picking some rosemary and spinach for dinner, the house smelt sensational ! 

On the 28th of September I celebrate my birthday, another reason to stop and think about the season and the year to come.

The many new colours of the flowers, the sounds of the birds and the smell of a potential summer breeze on the wind makes me stop, think and bring everything back into balance, ready for a fresh new season.

Do you have a spring ritual, a cleaning ritual or any other special things you do to bring in the new season ?