Seasons Change
Why does the onset of winter hit us as such a critical blow? The air begins to chill, but while the sun shines, we don’t mind. The first occasion that the sun hangs low at 7 pm, there is a despair we begin to feel. The walls close in on us as the day shrinks, and simultaneously it seems that the air has become too cold. The day retreats, and we feel an inner sense of joy that also begins to retreat inside with it. It is too cold to go outside without a coat now, when it seems we were basking in the sun not even yesterday. When the feeling of an early night sets in, our bodies and our souls know that life has changed for the worse.
Why is it that the same feeling does not exist in the early days of spring when the days get longer, and the air feels warm again? This makes us feel life. We aren’t in a state of retreat but rather we think of the future and pressing on into possibility! How is it that the transition to a warmer and brighter time brings joy, and a transition to a colder and darker time brings dread? Are they not both halves of the same year? Half of the same year that will repeat again, next year. All the same next year, when winter comes, we will feel that dread again. Like we have been ripped from our blissful lives.
We know as much as anything that this seasonal shift happens and that it will end. But every time it wounds us anew. Almost as if we are unsure about our ability to make it to the other side and see spring again. We fear that the darkness will consume us. So, what is this darkness and dread that we feel for a moment that occurs every year, at the same time, to nearly the same degree? Why is it that we should think that winter is bad? Why is it that we should shrink and cower for a full season?
How does man live into the season? Even as the trees lose their leaves and plants wither and die, how do we carry forth the light of life and not cower from the cold and darkness? Why should we cower and hide? Why should we let the discomfort of the world shrink our souls? Better to let the sun enlarge our souls and hopes in the summer, but why should we let that warmth and comfort control us as well?
We should yearn for the way to enlarge our souls in every season. Can we replace the fear and terror of the darkness with the joy of the seasonality? In the same way we learn to love and admire the quirks and idiosyncrasies in those we love, can we do the same with the seasons? How much better would life be if, instead of the pain of fear, we could feel the sweet pain of nostalgia? Yes, nostalgia for getting back to a time when the sun is out. Also, we could revel in the goodness that can be found in all life’s things, especially when you must search for it. The smallness of being forced indoors and having to huddle by a fire. The rhythm of having to pull a favorite jacket from out of the closet. There is a sweetness in the cold air. It will hit you again, but in a different way, once spring begins to bloom. They are not so different.
If you were going to die in winter, would it be a tragedy to never see the sun again? If you were going to die in June, would you want to walk hand in hand in the snow one last time? Respect the elements and let them enlarge you. There is too much we cannot control in our lives to take issue with the weather and the sun. Feed your spirit in all seasons.