Imbolc Is When I Get Done With My Own Excuses

It’s that time of year where I sit and go - ugh. It’s when nothing seems to feel magical to me. Instead, it feels like my patience thinning out with just about everything, and everyone.

Winter gave me a lot of grace. I moved slower. I postponed things. I convinced myself that I’d deal with certain stuff “after winter” and it sounded reasonable. For a while.

Then suddenly it didn’t.

Imbolc is the time that sits between winter and spring—the point where things start shifting internally even though nothing looks different yet. It exists because seasons don’t flip overnight; there’s a threshold between holding still and moving forward, and this is it.

Nothing big changes on the outside. My days look pretty much the same. But internally, I can’t ignore what’s off anymore. Things I’ve been tolerating starting to bug me. Commitments feel heavier. Projects I was neutral about suddenly feel like future problems.

And that’s when I know—I’ve crossed something.

I’m not energized yet. I’m definitely not motivated. I don’t feel ready to do anything drastic. I just stop being able to lie to myself, comfortably. Once I began to see what wasn’t working, I couldn't unsee it.

That’s the annoying part.

I catch myself rereading messages and thinking, why did I say yes to this? I look at plans and realize which ones won’t survive once life speeds up again. Not because they’re bad—because they’re either not mine, I never really committed, they’re half-thought-through, or built for a version of me that doesn’t exist anymore.

That’s where I start tightening things up. Quietly. No announcements. No big moves. Just small decisions that future me will be grateful for. I’m cleaning up my calendar and simplifying where I can. I’m not feeding things that don’t actually have legs. Not out of drama—out of honesty and the need for some semblance of order so the things that really matter can have room to grow.

If I feel edgy, that’s fine. If I’m restless, that tracks. It just means the internal shift is already happening, even if nothing’s moved yet on the outside.

So if you’re feeling the same way remember: Imbolc isn’t about starting over like the “resolutions” we feel obligated to make in January. It’s the season when you realize you can’t keep operating the same way you did yesterday and expect the outcomes to be different today.

I’m going to go brew another cup of coffee and watch the sun rise knowing that I’m good, in this moment. Everything may still look the same on the outside, but inside, things are getting ready……..