The Season Theory

For the record, I did not come up with the idea I am about to share with you.  Macey Myers (who I discovered on TikTok and is worth a follow) is the originator of the Season Theory, and I give her all the credit.

I am a huge fan of creative thinking, of taking action towards big dreams, and I have been making vision boards since I was in high school.  I love visualizing what I want and embodying it with my actions, so when Macey’s Season Theory idea came across my For You Page on TikTok, I instantly connected to the idea.

Here’s the premise.

The Season Theory asks you to imagine the kind of person you want to be, the life you want to lead, and the dreams you want to follow. Now, take those details and create a detailed description of a television show where the person you want to be is the main character. Create an imaginary season of television based on these details, and then show up every day as that character, starring in the show you created! The Season Theory provides a tangible way for you to follow your dreams.

Just as television shows have different seasons that follow the ebb and flow of events in the life of the main character, the Season Theory follows the arc of the seasons of our life. Macey says that we all know in our gut when one season is ending and another is beginning.  Sometimes big life events like having a baby or moving to a new town or taking a job or getting married create a natural marker for the beginning of a new season.  But sometimes the shift is subtle, and while you can’t quite put your finger on it, you know a new season is about to start.  When you find yourself on the precipice of change, it’s time to launch a new season, and this is where the fun begins!

Before I share how Macey suggests preparing for a new season and putting the Season Theory into action, I want to tell you why this idea appeals to me at this particular point in my life. I have had a nagging feeling in my gut since the beginning of this year that I was ending one chapter and beginning a new one. I don’t have any large life events to point towards a new season, but a lot of small, inner shifts have been combing to make me feel like it is time to begin something new. The Season Theory sparked inspiration for me at just the right time, and feel a strong creative pull towards the idea. While it might sound silly on the surface, underneath this exercise has provided a deep well of inspiration and a fun way for me to think about my life and my dreams.

If you’re interested, here is how you get ready for a new season, according to Macey’s Season Theory…

To begin, we enter the writer’s room.  This is the planning and brainstorming phase, and there are no bad ideas. You are writing and collecting all the different aspects of what you want to see happen in your new season.  Picture the main character. What kind of life does she lead? What does she wear? Where does she go? What is she working on? What are her challenges? Who does she spend time with?

The point of the writing phase is to give you a reference point for the season. Once it is finished, your job is to show up as the main character you described, just as you would if you were on a television show. Every day you embody the themes, pursue the dreams, and act as though you are the person you described in your script.

During my writing phase, I outlined what I wanted to see happen in my new season, what I thought the major themes would be, where my character would go, the things she would pursue, the values she would hold, the things that would be important to her, and the outcomes that would emerge along the way.  The more I engaged in the process, the more excited I became.  I wrote granular details, keeping everything honest and in line with who I am, but also stretching the borders of what I blindly accept to be true.  Growth and change require action, and in the context of a fictional season of television, what would my character do?

As a writer, I loved this phase, and I think it is so important and helpful to put words around dreams. After several rounds of editing, I had a written “script” that felt exciting to me. Every time I read it, I was ready to get the season going and see what would happen next!

Once we are out of the writer’s room, the next step is to create story boards that visually represent some of the details of the script.  I headed over to Pinterest and made a Season One board that included a collection of images that brought my season to life. This part was so fun!  And, honestly, so powerful.  As if I wasn’t already excited by the script, the visuals were very inspiring and made me want to dive in even more! I could look at a picture and be reminded of what the season ahead would be about and who I would become along the way.  It felt like my own television preview, and who doesn’t love a good preview?  Previews whet our appetite for what is about to unfold and create a sense of expectation and anticipation. The visuals also made it easy to glance at a page and be called back to my dreams.

The last step of the Season Theory is to choose a launch date and host a season premiere event. There are a million ways to do this depending on the scope and scale of your particular season, but for me, I knew I needed to have a few close friends over for dinner. I planned a meal, set a really fun table, wore a fun outfit, and embodied the character of my new season. I even put together some little swag bags because you can’t have a season premier without swag! My dinner party served as the official launch of my new season, and I felt ready to welcome my new dreams and create some magic.

Before you start to look at me like I have two heads for thinking that I can create a reality from a Pinterest board and a few ideas written out on paper, hang with me. I know that no one can predict the future, but I love the heart behind the Season Theory.  It’s dreaming, with massive amounts of follow through.  It’s bringing ideas to life, allowing small sparks to come to the surface and seeing what it feels like to creates space for them.  Remember what happens when we create space?  Change occurs.  And in my experience, without the space, dreams will sit still and atrophy to the point of disappearing.  I want to open the windows and let the breeze stir up the dust of my dreams and give them fresh life.  So I am creating space for them to play and giving them permission to come to life. The Season Theory is the method I am choosing to use to let the creativity flow.  All I have to do is show up and see what happens, which, to me, feels alive and free and fun.

As a final note, my life has had a lot of different chapters, but I am calling this my Season One since this is the first time I have used the Season Theory. Even though my character has lived through a lot of different chapters (musician, mother, business owner), this approach is new, and we are going to embrace it as the inaugural season that it is. Plus, everyone knows how exciting a first season can be!

I will be sharing some of the details from my upcoming season with you next week because I think it will be fun, and I think you might enjoy creating a season of your own whenever it feels right. In the mean time, I’m curious what you think about this idea and if it stirs up any sparks of inspiration for you. Let me know in the comments!