Winter: The Season of Seeds, Stories, and the ReVisioning Life
Winter: The Season of Seeds, Stories, and the ReVisioning Life
This time of year has always been one of reflection - the end of the harvest and the beginning of a quieter season. Across generations and cultures, these months weren’t about resolutions. They were about rhythm. As the nights lengthened, people gathered around fires. They told stories. Played games. Shared fermented foods and warm stews. They evaluated the growing season - what worked, what didn’t, what they wanted to try differently next year.
You may have heard of the “Three Sisters”. Planted together permaculture style, corn, beans, and squash. They weren’t just food, they were a model for productivity, planning, and support. At the end of the year, communities took stock: Which seeds to eat, and which to save? How much would we need to survive, and how much could we use to plant the future?
Living close to the land meant having a deep vocabulary around growth, timing, and interdependence. We’re missing that today. But we can still reclaim it and with it, a new way to approach this season.
Instead of starting January in a frenzy of pressure and self-discipline, what if we started now... slowly, thoughtfully...by asking: What do I actually want more of this coming year?
The First Key: Vision
This is the foundation of the Four Keys that I have found all over the world. When I went digging to find out more about pre-colonial systems, like a modern Indiana Jones with a sprinkle of Castaneda, I found an incredible discovery. Not kidding. Everyone was obsessed with this four directions, E,S,N,W business. It even leaked from pagan culture into Church doctrine as the stations of the cross. It is undeniably omnipresent, lurking behind every temple, every church, and every archaeological site around the globe.
But it's much deeper that just where the sun rises and sets - its a whole basic language code for unlocking a higher level of seeing the world. It gave ancient people a sort of elevation of intelligence in ways we modern people have fallen behind. A sense of belonging to something larger and to each other in harmony.
The entry point is always the beginning, right? Well the first gate in to the system is the East, Vision. I want to share this idea of radical ability to release what doesn't serve you and replace it with something that does. Also because its a way to reconnect with your nervous system, your rhythm, and your goals in a way that works. We start with Vision, (New Years resolution + structured habits) because without a clear, embodied sense of where you're headed, it's too easy to default to old patterns.
Data supports this deeply human truth:
- 92% of New Year’s resolutions fail by mid-February (U.S. News & World Report)
- People with clearly visualized and emotionally compelling goals are 1.4x more likely to succeed (Dominican University study)
- Regular review of goals increases success rates by up to 76%
So why do we fall short? Because we set goals from the neck up — not the nervous system out.
If you want more peace, clarity, connection, or creativity in 2024 — you can have it. But you need structure. You need tools. You need rhythm.
In this series, we’ll explore all four keys:
- Vision: What do you want more of?
- Biology: How does your body support (or block) that?
- Emotion: What needs to be felt/ seen and cleared?
- Cognition: What stories keep looping?
This season, let’s take stock like our ancestors did. Let’s save the best seeds. Let’s build a year we actually want to live in.
What Do We all Want?
I’ll go first: Less congestion and stress. More kindness and quiet. More friendship.
More art. More joy.
What about you?
Best
Courtni Hale
DE Life’s a Beach Counseling
