Hey there,

We are in deep winter.
And I mean deep.

Minus 20 degrees Celsius last night.
(I’m a Celsius girl, but when Fahrenheit goes into the minus, even I understand it. 😏)

It’s quiet out there right now.
Here in Michigan, the ground is frozen.
The inland lakes are frozen too, and ice fishing has become a perfectly normal weekend activity.
Everything above ground has paused.

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And yet, this is the part that always humbles me.
Beneath the surface, life is not dormant.
It is reorganizing.

Rumi said it best:

Nature has turned inward.
Not as retreat, but as preparation.

Preparation for what?
For new life.
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We can’t wait for the shoots to break through.
For nature to spoil us again with her beauty, the colors, the smells, the sound of birds returning. The unmistakable feeling that life is coming back.

Because there is a rhythm at work.

There is a time to rise.​
When life leaps forward after the thaw, reaching, growing, beginning again.

A time to be.​
When what has been planted is held, nourished, and allowed to mature,
until it can eventually be harvested.

And a time to descend. ​
When plants slowly die back and return to matter.
When what no longer serves is composted,
making space for what comes next.

For years, I’ve sensed that our lives move the same way.

This cycle is a living rhythm.

A time to rise: I arrive. I choose life.

A time to be: I stand. I hold what I’ve created.

A time to descend: I release. I become spacious again.

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And I see it not as a circle, but as a spiral we move through again and again.
Each time a little changed.

It unfolds through the union and balance of feminine and masculine energies.

The feminine listens. Receives. Waits.
The masculine clarifies. Chooses. Moves.

Too much of one, and we lose balance.
But when both are allowed their rightful place, something wiser unfolds.

We don’t return to the same place.
We return changed. Evolved.

And with the Spring Equinox on March 20, the cycle begins.
Again.

What if this were the real beginning of the year?

Not when resolutions are forced, but when something stirs quietly underground.
When what was planted in the dark begins to rise.

For now, simply notice:
What feels quietly riotous beneath your frozen ground?
What wants your attention right now?

I'd love to hear from you. 🤗

With love,
​xx Antonie

Do it before you die.
Some day will never come.

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P.S.: In my next email, I’ll speak more about Time to Rise and the Spring Equinox retreat on March 21. The details are already up if you’d like to take a look: Click here!​

P.P.S.: If this story made you nod, smile, or breathe a little deeper, and you'd like to say thank you in a small but meaningful way, you can leave me a little tip (or coffee!) here:

☕ Caffeinated Radiance Tip.

Your support helps me keep creating and sharing my work from the heart. 💛

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