The Growing
Season
“I
believe in process. I believe in four seasons. I believe that
winter's tough, but spring is coming. I believe that there's a
growing season. And, I think that you realize that in life, you grow.
You get better.”
Steve
Southerland
I was determined to be
more open-minded about winter this year. Since the summer was so
relentlessly hot, I told myself that this winter would be appreciated in a
new way—I would bask in the cold air; I would not
complain. But now it's cold and wet and my power has been off for two
days. It's forty-nine degrees and dark inside my house. The power
company is now saying on their ro-bo response line that, “due to
unforeseen circumstances, they are reassessing the situation.” Liza
and I have been forced to relocate. As much as I love the friends
we're staying with, I am not happy about being uprooted. I'm
struggling once again to feel gratitude for the winter season.
In searching for quotes
about winter, I found lots of uplifting words. Albert Camus said, “In
the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an
invincible summer.” Lovely, right? Paul Theroux wrote, “Winter
is a season of recovery and preparation.” And then, there was Anton Chekhov, who said, “People don't notice whether its winter
or summer if they're happy.” Uh-oh! I'm afraid that “invincible
me” is still hiding out in beautiful autumn, or loping ahead to
green and flowery spring.
Here's the part I can
get on-board with—I do believe in that growing season. I agree that
we grow and get better over time. That is, we do if we learn the
lessons presented along the way. If we are able to incorporate into
ourselves new understandings about life and how we operate in the
world, and carry that new learning forward, things do, in fact, get
better. It could even be said that we sometimes happen upon
“unforeseen circumstances, and have to reassess our situation.”
I'm trying to adjust my
attitude toward winter, but it's kind of like, “if you believe in
fairies, clap twice.” I'm clapping—sort of. Soundlessly.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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