For the last few years, I haven't braved a winter. I chased the sun all over the world for three years. For a girl from Queensland, Australia (nickname 'The Sunshine State') it suited me fine - we never really had cold winters anyway. But it did mean the sun was always shining over those three years, it was always 'go-time', there was always a reason to get outside and see and do something wherever I was. It was always the season.
Now that I'm having my first real winter in three years here in Paris, something funny's happening. I'm hibernating.
But it took me a while to understand what was going on, why I wanted to spend so much time at home. And it took me even longer to accept that it was ok. When you work for yourself, it's hard to not use all your free time 'productively'. My attitude even stretched so far as my pictures; to me, they didn't look like 'me' anymore, they looked dark and lifeless, which is just a sign of my own attitude to the season.
Learning to accept the different seasons of the year, whether I experience them weather-wise or not, trusting that there's a time for everything, is something I'll take with me from now on. Not every season has to be filled with doing, we're allowed to just be too. Now I'm here hibernating in this winter, I recognise this is a season with its own merit and beauty.