A creative return
There has been an undeniable shift in mood during the last week. Some days it seems I can perceive the light changing and the weather shift. Although not cold, the mornings are chillier and I can no longer pretend that the evenings are balmy and long. A new season is here. Every year I try to remind myself not to grasp, not to try to hold onto time beyond what is natural. Summer passes into autumn and it is right that it does. Whether I feel ready or not is beside the point.
This year, I am more aware of the French notion of la rentrée. This season, which goes beyond merely ‘back to school’ at the beginning of September, infuses life at this time. It is a return. A return to life as normal after the long summer. Now, this probably makes more sense for a country which definitely experiences a long hot summer, and which almost closes up shop for a month or two. This return is a very real thing. Children return to school, adults return to work, politics gets going again, the media begins a new schedule and even the literary world joins in, launching hundreds of new titles. But, I think it is also something which we can embrace, psychologically, as creatives.