I have recently recognized the importance of living my life according to the seasons.
This may either actually coincide with the seasons of nature, or in fact be a simple acknowledgement of the stage oneself or one's ideas may be in at a given time.
Our ideas, projects, goals all have their own life cycle. We get an idea, put energy into manifesting that idea, put more energy into maturing the idea, and reap the rewards of the idea. There is also the part where the idea is done. It is spent, it is to become something different, and there is a time of letting go, of closure, a tiny death.
So winter might be thought of as the very beginning. The idea is just forming in the quiet darkness, in the sleeping trees.
Spring comes next in a riot of sound and new life - energy is available to stoke the flames of inspiration and creation. The idea is brought out into the world, shiny as a new leaf.
Summer brings warmth, growth and the idea blossoms into whatever it can become.
Fall sees a maturation of the idea, it's goal is reached, and it produces a harvest.
Now we re-evaluate the idea. What is it's future? Has it really matured yet? Is it successful, and does one wish to continue working with this idea?
If so, it is kept, quietly tucked away in warm blankets, and stored for the winter. It's energy needs to be replenished, it needs to rest. If the idea is not useful, if it is not serving it's purpose, then it's time to let go of it, and to move on. Another idea will come easily during the quiet contemplation of winter.
I have recognized recently that there are many things in my life that I still hang on to. They are ghosts of ideas, concepts, or values that keep my mind shifting from place to place, worrying about one thing or another, and they drag me down, suck my energy, divert my focus.
This fall I decided on 3 things to keep. Ideas I had planted about a spring ago, and still wish to keep with me. Each of these concepts is in a different life cycle in and of itself. One is being tucked away to sleep for a little while, one is somewhere between spring and summer, and the third is in spring.
Releasing all others has freed up an enormous amount of energy for me. I feel at peace with much of the things in my life. I just put down some bags, and kicked others right out of my life.
I also feel that with each turn of these seasons, I am a new person. A new life. Yesterday is gone, and I am now a different person today. Sometimes it may be only slightly different, and the changes are sometimes so slight one can only see the when looking back over a longer period of time.
Once I was a child, a girl, a college student. Once I was haunted by many ghosts. We all have lived many lives, even in one life.
Who are we today?