Seasons of Life: A Reflection Practice
I’m writing this at my kitchen table as sunlight streams in, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been so grateful for a season to shift than I am right now! In central California we’ve had one of the coldest, wettest, windiest winters that I can remember, and suddenly…SPRING!
Pride of Madeira — some of my favorite early spring flowers
Seasons come and go, of course—that’s true for weather, and that’s true for our own lives and inner experiences. I wanted to share with you a simple practice that has been helpful to me personally and in our Flourish and Bloom Collective calls recently.
You can invite yourself to this practice in the way that works best for you: in a reflective meditation session, through journaling, or even as a conversation with a loved one. However you choose to work with it, here are the basic reflection questions:
How this practice can be helpful:
Just considering what’s happening in your world and giving it a name (for example, “This is a season of adjustment to X”), it can help us to acknowledge and accept what’s going on, like, “Wow, no wonder that feels like a lot!”
And by naming it as a season, we’re reminded that since no season lasts forever, this is a temporary experience. Realizing its impermanence might help us to savor the season more intentionally or might give us courage to continue, knowing that there is an end approaching.
And my favorite part: once we’ve acknowledged and named the season, we can then invite ourselves to respond with grace: If this is my reality right now, how can I respond to myself with wisdom and kindness? Do you need support? Maybe a nap? Or possibly to let go of an additional responsibility for now?
How is this for you?
If you give this a try, be sure to let me know how it goes (you can email me at hello@katiedutcher.com) – I’d love to hear from you!
