Seasons

Here in SE QLD/Northern NSW we are very blessed at this time of year. There are some amazing trees and plants that are flowering - but a family favourite of ours is the Jacaranda tree as pictured above. As we drive around the local area my kids love pointing out the purple - and competing as to who saw it first!! Some places around the area have streets lined with these beautiful trees, and as they start shedding an amazing purple coloured carpet emerges (this can also be painful depending on the location and the amount of mess made!).

Much is made of the notion of seasons. Initially we know them as different times of the year and the different weather patterns that are associated (wet/dry or the standard four seasons), but with more maturity people will start referring to different times of life as different seasons. These could be roughly standardised (preschool, school, university, work, retirement etc.) or apply to more individualised portions of time (writing a memoir, dealing with a chronic illness, running a business, participating in charity work). They refer to portions of time that have a defining theme running through that period. The concept can then also be expanded to refer to other more tangible/measurable applications such as seasonal workers or seasons of a television programme. Using the concept of seasons as a tool can be helpful in allowing planning (e.g. the business idea is in a season of planning prior to hiring, building infrastructure etc.), or developing a measured frame of mind when considering one's own progress.

As an example of the second point, I in my early 20s would often feel a nagging sense of underachievement. my peers seemed to have done so much more: travel, study, adventure, work, experience, relationships and so on. It was hard to take into account that I was in a season of knowledge accumulation (2 university degrees) and that some or all of these other things would come with later phases in my life. Had I the ability to conceptualise my life in terms of seasons at that point, I may have found the state of where I was in terms of these other (self-imposed) measuring sticks easier to live with. I struggled similarly with wanting to be in the season of marriage, parenthood, career and multiple others. In my case, it is only with time that I have learned to appreciate seasons and the purpose behind each of these. I now consciously will work at enjoying the one that I am currently in (it is still hard, particularly when having to get up at night because a child has wet the bed, or the fumbling early stage of trying to learn a new skill set!) while looking ahead as to what may be ahead.

No where have I found this more acutely demonstrated than parenthood. I have found being mindful and getting a good perspective of the current point in time is highly important here. It is surprisingly easy to get caught up in a negative experience of the moment, resenting and even despising the present while simultaneously pining for the previous season (where the child was smaller, cuter in some ways and less mobile!) and longing for the next one to come (when the child is dry at night, able to tie their shoelaces and so on). Having a bird's eye view is necessary to try and appreciate the moment when it is there.

With this, it brings us to the point of enjoying our life seasons - or if they are difficult - making the most of these times. We need to see how these chapters (another similar buzz-word!) fall into place to make up the entirety of our lives, realising that they will not last forever. Recognising each season for what it may be and giving each one a purpose is the key to having this tool work for us. From there we then do all we can to take out positives, learn from negatives and work on being present in the moment we are in.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." Eccl 3 v 1 - 8