What season are you?
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What season are you?
I first wrote about this back in 2006 and when I started this new Autumn Diaries blog the topic of seasonality came back to me. I’ve always been deeply affected by the seasons, both in nature and life, and 16 years ago I formed a little therory around how the seasons are also connected to our location and where we feel at home in the world.
The places where I feel most at home have always been in the WEST: Bath in the west of England, Richmond in West London, or the Pacific Northwest where I live now. When I lived in the far east of the UK close to the English Channel or the east coast of America, I felt displaced and unsettled, even though both were beautiful locations.
This made me wonder... is our geographical groundedness driven by a subconscious seasonal profile? The west is where the sun sets after a full day which is like autumn after summer. So the north would be winter, the south summer, and the east spring.
My favorite season has always been autumn. I am a late starter, in life as well as in the mornings. I have come into my own during the autumn of my life, this time in my 50s feels like a homecoming of sorts. My general disposition is congruent with that of a mature and mellow fall day, filled with warm colors and a sense of comfort and coziness. Fall people, I imagine, are well balanced and grounded, nourished from their life's spring and summer and preparing calmly for winter (old age).
What about the other seasons? Without having done any kind of significant research into this, my top of the head answer is this:
A Spring/East person is typically an early riser, someone who looks ahead, is energetic and good at planning. Summer/South people live in the now, they are bright and enthusiastic motivators who love dancing, traveling and working with people. Winter/Northerners tend to look to the past, they prefer cool over hot and are more serious and intellectually rather than emotionally driven, home bodies who thrive within their family and community.
Some years ago I tested my theory on my friends in the UK. I asked them about their favorite places and where they would love to live if money and circumstances were no obstacle. Lo and behold, my ‘Summer’ friend loves Southern Europe and has in fact bought a second property in Spain. Another ‘Summer’ friend also loves Spain, and dancing and music, yet these are unfulfilled passions and she is definitely a not so happy ‘Southerner’ stuck in the ‘North’. Then there is my ‘Spring’ friend who has tons of energy and is always planning, and executing, new projects. Interestingly she stated no geographical preference for where she lived but did mention that she loved traveling to the American east coast and Asia.
A small survey for sure but I was quite impressed by the results.
My theory does attract some questions, such as: "Where is the center that determines the position of east, west etc, is it your birthplace, or your current location, or what?" What is west to me is east to someone from Australia, so my guess is that the core center is where you were born, followed by the country you live in, narrowed down to the state and city. In my case, I live on the American west coast which is pretty much as far as west as you can get from my birthplace in Germany. And I do feel very much at home here.
However, now that I am living in the autumn of my life I also feel a strong pull back to Europe and I wonder if that is partly because Europe is more autumn whereas America is more spring, by virtue of each continent’s sociological age? Another potential rabbit hole to theorize on!
Like with any concept, there is no black and white, people may incorporate characteristics of all seasons, a bit like an astrological chart which is made up of so many more influences than just the popular sun sign. I imagine that my little theory is already rooted elsewhere in astrology, Human Design or other similar disciplines, it might be fun doing some more research into this particular aspect of it.
Tell me… what is your favorite place and what geographical season do you think you are?