the season of nothing
(& the season of everything)
A year and a half ago, my husband got a new job, so we moved from New Jersey to Indiana and finally bought our first house!
In New Jersey, I had built up a long list of clients who needed pet care, which was impossible to bring with me, and that left me jobless. I was faced with the choice to try to build up the business in our new location, find a new career, or commit to being a full-time author.
Since the latter was what I’ve always dreamed of, and I was completely burnt out from my dog-walking job, I decided to take the risk of being a full-time author, even though it offered no guaranteed income.
This choice didn’t result in a miraculous story of suddenly becoming a financially successful author, but it did heal four years of depression and teach me so much about myself. I’ve grown so much in the past eighteen months, and I feel like I’m finally in a position to handle success.
One of the important parts of this journey has been shifting my mindset into accepting the financial strain as the season of nothing.
During this season, I have worked to whittle down my expenses to nothing except what’s necessary (food, shelter, etc.). At first, I still allowed a lot of things that I’d deemed necessary but probably weren’t. One example is multi-vitamins. As somewhat of a health freak, I do think multi-vitamins are important to live an optimally healthy life, but does it matter how long and healthily I live if I’m not living my dream life, if I’m working a job I hate instead of writing?
When I compare the importance of any object to the joy my dream life will bring me, the answer to the question “do I need it?” becomes obvious.
Of course, in my dream life, I can afford to buy things like multi-vitamins, but they’re part of the effect, not the cause. Putting my currrent resources into buying healthy foods is a more holistic option, because not only will that provide the vitamins I need, but it helps improve my mood and energy in a way that boosts my productivity, thus projecting me toward my goals.
The season of nothing has helped me realize how little I need to be happy. As long as I have my husband, my dogs, and the space and time to focus on writing, I’m content. I don’t even feel the craving or urge to purchase things (like books) in the way that I used to. There are moments when I wish I had unlimited funds to buy all the books, but it doesn’t cause me despair like it used to.
However, I do feel that I’ve reached the pinnacle of the season of nothing. Unless I start going without food or shelter, there’s not much left to cut out. And, frankly, even though the season of nothing was integral in discovering what’s truly important to me, I’m ready to leave behind this feeling of lack. I want to embrace abundance and enter the season of everything.
It’s not 100% clear what this season will look like to me. It won’t be just buying whatever whenever I want, because I have dipped into that territory in the past, and it didn’t make me happy, nor did it drive me closer to my dreams.
If the season of nothing did anything, it helped me realize that material items won't satisfy or fulfill me.
The central belief I need to adopt is that anything and everything I truly desire is available to me, which will definitely be a change from I don’t need anything.
The season of nothing was about discovering what I need, and the season of everything will be about discovering what I want.
In preparation for this, I’ve been doing a lot of dream life visualization, trying to nail down exactly what my ideal life looks like. This included a vision board for 2025, but more importantly I like to write out my dream day, from waking up to going to sleep, and envision it in my head.
With this, I can better determine everything I need or don’t need right now. I might desire new clothes, but if my goal is to reduce my wardrobe and become a minimalist so I can travel the world, then the new clothes I want are not actually that important.
Part of my dream life is the dream me, the person I need to become to achieve my goals. How does this ideal version of me feel, how does she dress, how does she act. All the little details are important in becoming who I need to become, and my season of everything will funnel into these visions.
Sounds simple, but it’s definitely going to require more refinement of my own judgment than the season of nothing did. The season of nothing was like hacking down the entirety of an overgrown garden, whereas the season of everything needs to be thoughtfully and lovingly planting a vibrant garden.
One caution against the season of nothing: even though it did help me sharpen my values, it hasn’t necessarily brought prosperity.
If you spend too much time thinking "I can live without anything," then you will end up without anything.
Focusing on how little I can survive with has manifested some minor struggles and inconveniences. For example, my clothes dryer recently broke, and while I can let laundry air dry, it’s time consuming (and leads to stiff towels, haha). Sure, it’s empowering to know that I can survive even in less ideal situations, but I don’t want life to be harder for no good reason. Instead, I’m ready to focus on how much life has to offer me, how much I can experience and enjoy, how much I can pour my energy back into this world, and not really think about what I don’t have or don’t need.
For anyone who is interested in experimenting with a season of nothing, even just for a short period, here are some questions you can ask yourself when making purchases:
What purpose does this object/service/product serve me?
Is there another object/service/product of lesser monetary value that can serve a similar function?
Do I already own something that can fulfill this need?
For the season of everything, here are some question I will be asking myself:
How does this object/service/product contribute to my dream life?
Would the ideal version of me want/buy/use this?
Will this bring me long-lasting joy, or just temporary pleasure? (The season of nothing helped me figure out the answer to this question for most things, but it might be a more necessary question if you skip the season of nothing.)
Eventually I will write an update on the season of everything, hopefully with more practical details about how to do it, along with some results about how this feeling of abundance has positively impacted me. If you enter either of these seasons (or have already done something like this), let me know how it went!