When we take the time to reflect upon the natural environment, we begin to observe a complex yet very beautiful world cycling through patterns, phases and through stages of transition.
We also quickly realize that nothing ever stands still, that nothing ever maintains its current state. In fact, all of nature cycles through seasons of change and transformation, effortlessly and naturally — just like humans transition through psychological and physical states of transformation throughout our lives.
Transformation is a natural part of life and an important component of human evolution. It is something that is unavoidable and inevitable. Our circumstances, needs, desires, and behaviors must therefore naturally change and evolve alongside these cycles of life, or we risk undermining our personal levels of happiness and fulfillment.
When our psychology and behaviors are in harmony with these rhythms, we begin to flow through life naturally and effortlessly. During these times, we understand that our current life circumstances are only temporary, and we, therefore, make use of what we have to the best of our abilities.
On the other hand, when we resist these natural rhythms, we sell ourselves short and consequently struggle with the conditions that life throws our way. In return, we increase our own personal suffering.
The Four Seasons of Transformation
Summer: A season for reward, celebration, and fulfillment.
Autumn: A season for survival, mistakes, and change.
Winter: A season for reflection, hibernation, and planning.
Spring: A season for learning, opportunity and dynamic thinking.
Consider how your life has changed and transformed over time by reflecting back upon the emotional highs, and the heartbreaking lows you have experienced over the past year. Additionally, consider your current predicament and life circumstances, and ask yourself the following questions:
Which season am I currently transitioning through at this very moment?
How have the seasons shaped my character?
How have the seasons strengthened my character?
How have the seasons enriched my experience of life?
Often we want spring, autumn, summer and sometimes even winter to last forever, even though we also don’t because then we wouldn’t have the splendor of the other seasons.
Why do we grasp so tightly to the things we love even when we know that more good things are coming?
I love my children more than words could ever convey.
Watching them grow and become their independent selves has become bitter sweet for me. The love is bound up in the loss, and the loss is an expression of the love.
Beauty and ache are interwoven because time is responsible for change, and change is painful because it means leaving behind this good thing. Even though something else good is on the horizon.
Nature is always teaching us about letting go. We cannot grasp on too tightly to Autumn’s exquisite beauty because we know it won’t last.
One way to find peace around the fleeting nature of life and the existence of change is to learn how to breathe with it. We surrender into the moments of change instead of pushing it away. We melt into the joy and when the fear of losing what is good arrives on the heels of joy, we breathe into that, and then transpose it into gratitude.
The more we breathe into all that is true, naming it collectively and feeling the pain alongside with the joy, the more expansive our hearts become, and the more we widen our channels for love. ♥️
For love is the thing that remains. Love is the through-line, the connective thread that weaves through this life and beyond, through the changing of seasons, the growing of children, the cycle of life and the passage of time. The grief and the love are bound up together, and we grieve so deeply because we love so deeply. Allowing for both - widens the channels, and allows us to remain in the flow of the river of life.
Let’s slow down. Let’s enjoy the pause between the changing of seasons. Let’s embrace it all and let go of it - all at the same time. Let’s open our hearts wide for the beauty of what was and the splendor of what will be.
Much love and adoration,
Allison
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