From the Hart
With autumn approaching, Miranda Hart shares why we should take inspiration from the season and slow down – so we can move forward when we are recharged, fit and ready
I’ve surprised myself over the last few years in being able to really enjoy the autumn and winter. I now love the early dusk (good word, ‘dusk’) and longer nights and, as we approach those darker months, I shall tell you for why, my dear reader chum (if I may be so bold to call you that after only two sentences – it’s just that you seem delightful!)…
You see, I think we’ve forgotten to go by nature’s seasons, and what autumn teaches us is that we are allowed to – and indeed need to – slow down. We’re not meant to be constantly busy and under pressure to produce and do. Imagine shouting at a tree in winter to hurry up and bloom! You wouldn’t. You’d respect its cycle of life and the need for its rest and dormancy to be able to blossom at its very best by spring and summer. You don’t think it’s lazy for taking time to replenish or that it’s lesser for not having leaves for a season – it’s still utterly majestic and vital.
Yet today’s culture still seems to applaud busyness. We get lulled into a false sense that we’re only ‘successful’ if we’re achieving; if we’re moving upwards in some way, gaining plaudits, awards, money, recognition; only ever saying yes and helping everyone at the expense of our energy. And what I say to that, my dear reader chum, is nonsense, no thank you very much to you, please and thank you! I know it can be very hard, especially for women, because we’re juggling so much. Our minds are full of the to-do lists for every family member, let alone what work and friendships we need to maintain, and on it goes. But any extra pressure to feel like busyness is a measurement of our worth needs to fade away like the dying summer skies.
Because you are worthy not for what you do, but who you are.
When we lose someone close to us or have a happy memory of a dear friend, do we think about their accomplishments? No. We think about their smile, how they made us feel safe, how they made us laugh, their vulnerability when they shared a silly or moving story with us, their kindness. We would never shout to our loved ones: ‘I need you to do, do, do and then I will think highly of you. I want you to show me you’re worth me loving you and deserve your place in today’s world by your baking, your fund-raising, your
