Personal Change and the Seasons
I love watching the seasons change. The weather in the last few days has been so interesting. Yesterday I walked to the bus stop in the sun. Sunrise is earlier and I heard birds chirping. The weather was still cold, but milder. And then today is just plain cold, really snowy and my walk was slow and icy. A spring day, followed by a winter day.
I'm putting the last couple of days into my nature worshipper rolodex. I am reminded that in nature, change isn't a linear A to B movement. It's a few steps forward and then a couple back. It's uneven and unpredictable in the short term. In the long term, we can reasonably predict winter will end and spring will come - there will be sunlight and warmth for all. Everyone reading this entry has probably heard that before, but it feels different to feel that change in my breath, on my skin and under my feet.
And it just strikes me as just so true. Change is messy, mixed and rarely effortless. Mostly it's pretty imperfect. It makes me feel better about my own process, with it's fits, starts and backslides. If it's good enough for the Earth to change like that, then it's good enough for me.
Oh, sure, sometimes spring seems to wax seamlessly into summer. And those easy transitions are gifts to be celebrated. But they're not the rule. I think the tough parts for us humans is that we aren't always guaranteed a spring (or a winter for that matter). But really, few of us are as relentless in the pursuit of change as the turning earth. And who can be? The Earth is mighty and has the law of physics on her side. Lucky her! But I think we have our own advantages. Us humans can keep reaching for the rebirth of spring at any time of year. Or for the fallow, quiet and introspective time of winter for that matter.
Free will is pretty awesome, isn't it?
EDIT: Here is link to a prayer I wrote over a year ago and it seems to fit here.
I'm putting the last couple of days into my nature worshipper rolodex. I am reminded that in nature, change isn't a linear A to B movement. It's a few steps forward and then a couple back. It's uneven and unpredictable in the short term. In the long term, we can reasonably predict winter will end and spring will come - there will be sunlight and warmth for all. Everyone reading this entry has probably heard that before, but it feels different to feel that change in my breath, on my skin and under my feet.
And it just strikes me as just so true. Change is messy, mixed and rarely effortless. Mostly it's pretty imperfect. It makes me feel better about my own process, with it's fits, starts and backslides. If it's good enough for the Earth to change like that, then it's good enough for me.
Oh, sure, sometimes spring seems to wax seamlessly into summer. And those easy transitions are gifts to be celebrated. But they're not the rule. I think the tough parts for us humans is that we aren't always guaranteed a spring (or a winter for that matter). But really, few of us are as relentless in the pursuit of change as the turning earth. And who can be? The Earth is mighty and has the law of physics on her side. Lucky her! But I think we have our own advantages. Us humans can keep reaching for the rebirth of spring at any time of year. Or for the fallow, quiet and introspective time of winter for that matter.
Free will is pretty awesome, isn't it?
EDIT: Here is link to a prayer I wrote over a year ago and it seems to fit here.