SEPTEMBER: What Spring Is — and How to Enter It Gently (Australia is tilting toward light again.)

Hi friends,

Spring is a change you can feel. The air warms earlier.  Mornings brighten. In Australia it’s September to November on the calendar, but it lands first in the body—“open the window” weather.

Winter can make things small. Quiet. Barren. I’ve parked whole parts of myself to get through it. Work first. Family first. Creativity last.  My voice went on hold while I waited for life to tidy itself.

Spring says, “it’s time to shoot up through the earth."

Women hold a lot: worker, parent, partner, carer, friend, boss, daughter, artist.
Some of us keep jobs and households afloat. Some of us hold stories nobody sees.
A voice has to stretch across all of that. It won’t look the same for everyone.

I’ve been thinking about how people mark the shift into Spring. 

Nowruz: a clean table, a clean start

Across Iran and parts of Central Asia, the year turns at the spring equinox. Nowruz means “new day.” Families scrub the house top to bottom. They set a small table with seven simple things—greens for renewal, vinegar for patience, apples for health. Ordinary objects, clear meaning. You make space for the new year with your hands, so there’s space for it in your head. I love that. No waiting for motivation. Just do the work and begin again.

Djilba into Kambarang: notice the exact moment of change

Here in Australia, many First Nations seasonal calendars don’t use neat quarters. In Noongar Country (south-west WA), late winter into spring is Djilba—cold mornings, first signs of new life—moving into Kambarang, when wildflowers burst and young animals appear. It isn’t a date on paper. It’s a change in birds, plants, wind, and light. You move with what you notice. That helps me. Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Read the signs around you and adjust.

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Blossoming = Change

Blossoming isn’t a sudden reveal. It’s a quiet build. Roots before buds. Buds before flowers.

Pick one place to stretch out in the sun this month. 

• Finish one conversation you’ve been avoiding.
  
  

• Ask for one thing you need. If the answer’s no, you still asked. That matters.
  
  

• Make one small piece: a verse, a sketch, a plan on a sticky note.
  
  

• Give one hour to the part of you that went quiet in winter.
  
  

Spring doesn’t wait for perfect. It pushes through cold soil. We can, too. 

 Winter says…. When work settles, I’ll write.
When the house is sorted, I’ll record.
When they understand me, I’ll speak up.
When I’m less tired, I’ll ask for what I want.

We bargain. We delay. Weeks slip. Seasons go.

Spring says ‘take an action”

 What is your action? It all depends on where you feel that Winter has frozen you.

 Maybe it means asking yourself what you want… or   It means you ask, even if the answer   might be no.
It means you notice where you’ve gone quiet and put yourself on hold 

      “When X, then I’ll Y” — a spring rewrite

• When life feels chaotic → I’ll claim one focused hour anyway.
  
  

• When the house is loud → I’ll record one take in the car.
  
  

• When a meeting runs long → I’ll say one clear sentence that matters.
  
  

• When a relationship is stuck → I’ll name the change I need. Then I’ll act on what happens next.
  
  

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps you step into the new season with a little more ease. If you want steady help finding a voice that works—in your work, your art, and your home—I invite you to book a short call or a first lesson: lisarichardsmusic.com.

— Lisa