Why December is the Month of Exhaustion (And What the Seasons Want You to Know)
Let me tell you something nobody wants to hear in December: you're tired because you're supposed to be tired.
Not because you got things wrong this year. Not because you need better boundaries or more self-care or a different morning routine. You're tired because December is the month when nature herself is exhausted, and you—despite your heated home and electric lights and ability to order dinner at midnight—are still fundamentally part of nature.
This is the thing we've forgotten in our fluorescent-lit, always-on world: December isn't supposed to feel like July with tinsel (and no, we’re not supposed to have Christmas in July either). It's the darkest month of the year, the month when the earth is holding its breath before the solstice, and your body knows this even when your calendar refuses to acknowledge it.
The Season You're Actually In
Here's what's happening in the natural world while you're frantically shopping and hosting and performing holiday cheer:
We're in the liminal space between late autumn and deep winter. The sun is at its lowest point in the sky. Darkness dominates. The earth has pulled all her energy underground. Everything that can go dormant has gone dormant. Trees are drawing sap down into their roots. Animals are in true hibernation or as close to it as they can manage. Seeds are waiting in the frozen ground.
This is survival mode. This is conservation. This is the season of absolute energetic minimalism.
And then there's you, expected to be at your most social, most generous, most festive, and most productive self. Throwing parties. Meeting deadlines before year-end. Shopping for dozens of people. Attending events. Traveling. Performing joy.
No wonder you're exhausted.
What Late Sagittarius and Capricorn Season Know
We begin December in late Sagittarius—that wild, expansive fire sign that wants to say yes to everything, to stay in the excitement, and desperately wants to keep the party going. Sagittarius doesn't want to admit that the darkness is winning. It's the last gasp of enthusiasm before reality sets in.
Then, right around the solstice, we shift into Capricorn season. Cardinal earth. The sign of structure, of facing reality, of doing what needs to be done whether you feel like it or not. Capricorn knows about exhaustion. Capricorn knows about pushing through. But here's what most people miss: Capricorn also knows about strategic retreat. About working with reality instead of against it.
The goat climbs the mountain, yes—but it also knows when to stop climbing and find shelter.
The Solstice Truth
The winter solstice falls right in the middle of all this cultural chaos, on or around December 21st. It's the longest night of the year, the point of maximum darkness, the moment when the sun appears to stand still before slowly, imperceptibly, beginning its return.
Ancient peoples treated this like the holy day it is. They understood that this was the hinge point of the entire year—the moment when death meets rebirth, when darkness acknowledges light, when what was must make space for what will be.
They didn't throw office parties during this time. They went inward. They got quiet. They honored the dark.
While we've turned it into the season of maximum output.
What Your Body Actually Needs
Your exhaustion isn't a personal failing. It's not something to push through or optimize away. It's information. Your body is trying to tell you something that the natural world is screaming: this is the time to go slow.
This is the season for:
Going to bed earlier (you're not lazy, you're listening to your body’s needs)
Saying no to things (you're not antisocial, you're conserving energy)
Staying home (you're not boring, you're respecting your nervous system)
Moving slower (you're not unproductive, you're working with the season instead of against it)
The exhaustion is the season asking you to stop fighting it.
What The Unfolding Does in December
This is exactly the work we do in The Unfolding membership during December. We don't pretend it's easy or simple. We don't offer surface-level self-care that ignores the reality of the season. Instead, we go deep into what December actually is—the month of sacred exhaustion, of necessary endings, and of the dark night before the return of light.
December's theme in The Unfolding is about learning to be with the darkness instead of fighting it. About understanding what wants to end, what needs to be released, and what's ready to compost. About recognizing that rest isn't optional right now—it's strategic.
We work with the approaching solstice as a threshold, with Capricorn season as a teacher, with winter's invitation to let things die so that new things can eventually be born.
Because here's what I know after 17 years of working with the seasons: when you stop fighting December and start working with it, everything changes. The exhaustion doesn't disappear, but it stops feeling like failure. It starts feeling like wisdom because that is what it actually is.
Permission to Be Tired
So here's what I want you to know: if you're exhausted in December, you're not broken. You're not doing it wrong. You're not weak or unmotivated or insufficiently optimized.
You're a human animal living through the darkest time of the year, and your body is responding exactly as it should.
The question isn't how to have more energy in December. The question is: what becomes possible when you stop fighting the season you're actually in?
Join The Unfolding and discover what December is really asking of you. Our December work has already begun but there’s still plenty of time to jump in, and I'd love to have you with us as we learn to work with the darkness instead of against it.
The Unfolding is a seasonal membership for people who are ready to stop fighting the natural rhythms of the year and start working with them. Each month, we explore the spiritual, energetic, and practical wisdom of the current season through tarot, ritual, seasonal living practices, and deep discussion. Learn more and join us here.
