Conjuring spells to move from overwhelm to ease in late autumn.
taking cues from the effortless enchantment of November.
Hello I’m Lyndsay, I am so glad you have found your way here…
Welcome to Story & Thread., a cosy, welcoming place to be inspired by the quiet power of noticing beauty & wonder. Here we explore our creative lives through the lens of the seasons, and what it means to tell our stories with meaningful PR.
All subscribers will receive regular thoughtful posts about creativity, mothering, home and garden through a soft seasonal lens. You are invited to become a member of The Beauty Thread., to join a creative community for online seasonal gatherings, guides, co-working spaces and soon, guidance for crafting a considered PR kit for your creative business.
“In November, the bones of the earth begin to show. What was hidden reveals itself, and in revealing, we find what is essential.”
—Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
Dearest reader…
How are you as we move deeper into November? (One of the most underrated months in my opinion..!)
I found there to be a distinct shift from October to November this year — punctuated by the portal of Samhain (or Halloween), it feels as though we moved from the honeyed sweetness of early autumn, into the darker depths overnight.
Despite remaining mild, we are in time of transition — the world around me feels both stripped back and blurred at the edges, like the misty moon visible through bare branches most evenings last week. Some trees remain shrouded in pale gold, whilst others are holding onto only the last remnants of their leaves.
Today I am writing to you about the fullness of this current life chapter and what I hope to learn from world around me as it begins to empty, reveal, and sink into stillness. And don’t miss the details below about some lovely happenings taking place in late autumn and winter, both online and in-person that I hope to share with you…
Enchanted in November — conjuring spells to move from overwhelm to ease.
All around me, the glazed golden abundance of early autumn has drifted towards the ground, and given way to a quiet, muted, and somehow more mystical energy of November.
There is an unmistakable poignancy and longing to November. The period of time from the end of October into November hosts a number of bewitching, otherworldly festivals, and it feels to me as though myth and enchantment are interwoven in the air, the trees, and the earth this month.
As the world becomes increasingly bare, moments of beauty become more precious, laden with more meaning, with an enhanced ability to stoke and kindle awe. As the light begins to wane earlier each day, I hold onto each shard of light a little bit tighter. As the chill promises to set in, I seek out more places of warmth, shelter and softness.
Despite not managing to carve out time for specific ritual around Samhain this year, the days have felt infused with wonder — from the merriment at nightfall during the Halloween party hosted by the cafe in our local park, a tradition in recent years; to fun under skies alight with fireworks; and the spellbinding sight of the full moon swathed in light cloud after a beautiful meditation and movement evening with one of my oldest friends.
Traditionally, seen as a time when the veils between worlds is at its thinnest, it is a time ripe for spell-working and conjuring, these days are laden with magic and mystery amid the misty rain, do you feel it too?
November - the magic and the moody.
The season embodies both moodiness and magic, solemnity and high spirits, abundance and shedding, fading and fullness, starkness and softening. There are both tangible depths and unseen magic in November — the combination of mist, dampness and leaf fall conjures an inimitable scent that Rainer Maria Rilke once referred to as “containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.”
After the clock change here in the UK at the end of October, the dark encroaches more keenly each day, heralding the beginning of our descent into the underworld of the colder, darker months — a time I now unexpectedly look forward to. On dank days, I find myself embracing the elements (when in the right attire) whilst outdoors, and revelling unapologetically in the opportunity to ‘get cosy’ when I can retreat inside.
The dance of empty and full.
Looking back, last year in a post called Sensing stillness, space and sparks in November I wrote…
Without the shimmer of September and October, we can see more clearly in November. Shedding layers reveals stark silhouettes and sparseness — negative space emerges after all of the fullness of previous months. After the movement of the leaves from sky to earth, there is a stillness, a necessary pause to cultivate clarity.
This is the time to inhabit the liminal, we are existing within a space after the burnished gold of the harvest but before the glistening sparkle of winter festivities.
And yet this November, I have been entirely consumed in the dance of work, creativity, mothering and life — there has not been much opportunity to take a pause at all.
My days feel incredibly full and busy, in enjoyable, fruitful ways — interestingly playing out against the backdrop of the living world becoming empty and still. As always, the season provides me with reminders to honour the energy that surrounds me — to seek out November’s quiet, unassuming, unadorned energy when the daily whirlwind feels too much.
Whilst running around in an attempt to fit in a couple of errands one day last week, I was struck that my current go-to mode has become one of self-imposed hurrying, with a dash of mild anxiety. Although, whilst deeply immersed in each separate, (but often overlapping) aspect of work when at my desk, I have been rushing to fit everything else in, and to get to the next place I need to be.
Becoming aware of this and looking out to the beguiling scene unfolding beyond my window, I have made an intention to actively carve out space to embed tiny pauses within my day…
To take a breath and gather myself before I begin a day’s work, and return to myself before I need to move onto the next thing.
To create a soft buffer between worlds — by taking my time to arrive at my desk with a hot cup of tea and a candle lit, and by finishing work with enough time to walk (not run!) through the woods on my way to nursery and school pick up.
To discern what needs tending to most, and to shed distractions and tasks that can wait, revealing only the essential each day.
To remember that my value comes from my deepest presence and perspective, over productivity and to-do lists.
To recognise that growth and progress takes place in the darkness, underground and under the radar, and to trust in all that is unfolding but not necessarily seen.
To remind myself (and my children, as I so often hurry them along too) that taking my time in a world that values urgency is an act of quiet rebellion. We have time, and that the right things won’t pass us by.
As I down tools for the day, to realise that whilst there is always more to do, I can only do one thing at a time (well). That it is ok to leave some things undone, to be picked up again when I return…
I write about fullness often, as it is a state that I am grateful to experience regularly, in all senses of the word, from joyfulness to overwhelm. My days feel full to the brim with the creative work that I love — from my work in PR, in my writing to you, in crafting soft spaces for us to land and return to ourselves and our creativity, and of course, within my all-consuming mothering role.
November reminds me that now, as the light dwindles, the days become shorter and growth shifts inward, it is time not to take on more, but to lean more deeply into what I have already grown and nurtured. I am learning to find the value in emptiness, in space, silence and the void — that by finding pockets of emptiness, I can hear the whispers of my thoughts, that so often reveal what has been hidden amongst the fullness.
Autumn and winter gatherings.
The Softening.
At a time that we need more softness, I have been concocting The Softening, a sensory, seasonal online retreat, allowing us to soften into the understated magic of late autumn…
The Softening will feature an online retreat-style gathering at 11am-12.30pm GMT on Wednesday 26th November 2025 — an invitation to spend time together in cosy, cloud-like cocoon, with a magazine-style guidebook featuring inspiration behind the retreat alongside beautiful soft insights from others for all members of The Beauty Thread., and a curated email series for all subscribers, detailing all the ways we can find softness in this season.
The Softening is intended to be a movement, a way of being, a remembering, a return, and a retreat. I hope you will join me…
Homecoming in Winter.
I am delighted to be working on a project with heiter magazine to create a Homecoming in Winter — A Heiter Breakfast Gathering in London on Wednesday 3rd December 2025, a cosy morning of warmth, connection, and reflection hosted by heiter.
We will begin the morning with a hot cup of tea or coffee, followed by a conversation exploring wellbeing and the art of feeling at home in your body. We are excited to welcome food writer and cookbook author Alissa Timoshkina and London-based artist Laura Gee, in conversation with heiter editor Katharina Geissler-Evans — together, we’ll reflect on how lifestyle, nourishment, self-care, creativity, and community can help us find balance and belonging, especially during the colder months.
Following the conversation, we will enjoy breakfast together and have the opportunity to connect with fellow members of the community. Spaces are limited to keep the morning intimate, it would be lovely to share it with you…
Tickets are available here, and I have a special discount code for readers of Story & Thread. By entering STORYANDTHREAD at the check-out you will receive 10% off your ticket price. I would be overjoyed to meet you in person!
Thank you so much for reading — I would love to hear how you are navigating November, and how you manage to take precious pauses in your day/week...
Sending late autumnal love,
P.S. Find out more about The Beauty Thread., my membership space filled with creative seasonal gatherings including The Softening, co-working sessions, and considered storytelling and PR — you can read or listen to more by clicking the link below…
Introducing The Beauty Thread. by Lyndsay.
Tending and telling our stories inspired by the quiet power of noticing beauty & wonder.
*creative gatherings | co-working | considered space | crafted PR*.
It would be an honour to welcome you into the cosy, creative community at The Beauty Thread., you can find all of the details are in the page below…
Welcome to The Beauty Thread. by Lyndsay.
Tending and telling our stories inspired by the quiet power of noticing beauty & wonder.
I hope you will join us, you would be so welcome…
November is always such an an interesting time in the US. We have the seasonal cues to pack in and rest, get cozy as we welcome the chilly air and windy days, yet there is also this frenzy as we collectively hurtle towards the holiday season, which for us begins with Thanksgiving, followed directly by Black Friday, and then it’s just Christmas season. There is so much pressure and stress and it feels very antithetical to the season. 🫠 I like the idea of honoring wherever we are individually within the seasonal, and collective, script.