“What do you mean you’re ‘wintering’? We're in the middle of Summer!?”

By Charlie Felgate, traveller on the Regenerative Leadership Journey 2022. Left the Decathlon after 18 years in December 2022. Independent advisor on regenerative business.

Wintering. In Summer. It hadn’t occurred to me that this could be a thing. Until it became a thing. I just did a month of it.

Last year was a turning point for me in my professional life. Turns out that the events of 2022, which included my year-long Regenerative Leadership Journey, would also have an impact on all aspects of my life. So I ended up leaving a rather nice and comfortable job to dive deeper and further into the subject of regeneration, aiming to be useful to people who are on their own journey, and be more aligned with myself.

My old contract ended on December 31st. So, here I was, ready to begin January 1st with ‘wintering’, a concept I had discovered a year beforehand on our RL course with my fellow travellers. Living in line with the seasons, leaving space for micro-deaths. It made a lot of sense to me to do nothing at all in January, to sense into myself and my winter surroundings. At least that was the plan. I should have known that nothing ever goes to plan, as I’ve been saying to my old teammates for the last ten years.

You see, my body had other ideas. I was super excited by all this ‘free time’ I had, and wanted to fill it with what I wanted to do, tons of tasks, to do lists, organising visits, and generally being a little jumpy. One morning my body was urging me to get into the car, get into the traffic and get into work. It was like my mind had understood, but my body cells hadn’t. Those who knew me were kind of sceptical, “yeah sure Charlie, you’re going to do nothing for a few weeks, for sure…”. And they were right. 

At least I was taking care of myself better than before, but that was about it. It was still ‘business as usual’ for my commitment to work. Probably normal when you are beginning a new entrepreneurial adventure. I didn’t say no too much, and the first four months went by in a blur. I wasn’t very present, always on the move, too many mornings waking up in a different hotel. 

In May, an opportunity came my way. I had the possibility of renting a farmhouse, just two miles from my three kids. A year ago I would have never accepted that, seeing only the constraints. But I knew I wanted to get closer to nature, to talk less about it, and ‘become’ it more. And so I moved in and couldn’t wait to grow vegetables and raise chickens. 

On June 2nd, I had a great job in Bordeaux, helping answer a question that a wine merchant had, “so what is a regenerative company?’

France’s train system is very good, so I did a round trip of 1600 kms in the day, which lasted for about 20 hours. That is plenty of time to ask yourself a few questions, including, ‘what do you need right now?’ The answer came pretty quickly. I need to stop and be present. I decided to cancel all my paid work for June, and all the trips to Paris. I don’t need to be getting up at 6am to go to Paris twice a week. (I did retain the volunteer stuff as I don’t see that as work). 

The sun rises at 5.30am here. I decided to not shut the blinds, and wake up when the body wanted to. This took me into four weeks of wintering, in summer. Four weeks of not reading/replying to emails (ok I did, but not like before). Four weeks of not posting on social media (ok I did go on it though). Four weeks of slowing down (that I did do). Four weeks of accepting micro-deaths, and letting what wants to come emerge.

It had never occurred to me that wintering could be done in the summer. I’m not even sure why I imagined that. In many ways I am made for wintering in the summer. I love the late evenings, the birdsong, the frog chorus, the red fruits… I don’t really enjoy winter that much, rather staying inside around a fire than being outdoors. Summer gives me the energy to actively do nothing.

So what has this summer-wintering given me ?

Awakening of the senses: checking out digitally and checking in with my surroundings. Things taste better, things sound better, things feel better. Colours are brighter, and so is my spirit. 

Being present: I am living here today, present for myself, my kids and my surroundings. 

Observing people in ‘innovation gone mad’ mode: I have a ton of colleagues working in the field of sustainability and regeneration jumping from one call to another, burning themselves out because ‘we just don’t have the time’. I used to be like it, and I could be again. But it’s only when you slow down that you can see the madness of it all. 

Music: maybe it is because I just bought some big-ass speakers (second hand), but I’ve been listening to music 24/7. Old stuff, new stuff, latin stuff, jazz stuff. Music used to be a HUGE part of my life, but being busy has kept it quiet over the last eight years. Wintering has shown me the good that music does to me. Glad it’s back.

Bored: over the last two weeks, I’ve even gotten a little bored! Great feeling. I resisted the urge to hit play on Netflix or drill unnecessary holes in the walls, and just let it sit. Ideas come. Visions come. Solutions come. What I want becomes clearer, as does what I don’t want. I want to combine my work with my life on this farm. 

Over thinking: maybe the slightly darker side. Having more time to think, well… has given me too much time to think, over-thinking stuff that didn’t require it.

Now July is beginning. I’ve got a couple of missions before the holidays begin, and I am full of motivation to deliver them. I feel I’m coming out of my winter and heading into my spring. Not at all aligned with the calendar seasons, but very much aligned with my own seasonal needs. I know what is right for me. The summer holidays will bring some more added bonus time to feel into nature’s creativity and be overwhelmed by her power and wisdom. 

And I’ll have fresh eggs tomorrow morning too.