In a group I facilitated recently, my opening question was:
As we move from summer to fall, what else is in transition for you?
We usually ascribe changing seasons largely to changing weather patterns, but there is also a way that seasons remind me of phases of development:
Spring – the time when new things bloom and sprout, filling us with hopefulness and wonderment about what could be ahead
Summer – the time of activity and fervor and action, when things are moving and growing and changing fast
Fall – the time we harvest what has been growing and developing, learning important lessons that allow us to understand and see things differently
Winter – the time when things go dark and quiet, turning inward, sometimes dying where they have come to their end
What is truly interesting to me, though, is that different things in our lives can be in their different “seasons” all throughout the year. As we start to move into fall, I see a few of my projects just starting to open up and emerge for the first time – fresh in their “spring”. I have some longstanding friendships that are deepening in new ways, entering their “fall”. Having just closed a short but meaningful relationship, dating is having its “winter” moment right now.
So in this transition of the weather seasons, I invite you to pause and take an inventory – in what seasons are the various important aspects of your life right now? How can you nurture them, exactly where they are?
