On this National Day of Reflection in the UK, one year since our first lockdown, I’ve been reflecting on the reassurance of seasons.
Today, I stand with all those who’ve lost friends and family to covid. I also stand with those who have experienced so many other losses, loss of jobs and income, loss of certainty, loss of normalcy, loss of connection, loss of the things we were expecting and hoping for. It’s important to grieve our losses, to feel the sadness, to cry, to let it pass through us, not to suppress it or have a stiff upper lip.
I wonder, as well as acknowledging our losses whether we can also reflect on what we’ve been grateful for in the past year and what we’ve learnt.
I’ve been thinking recently about how reassuring I find the passing of seasons – that winter does turn to spring and doesn’t last forever. Similarly I know that in my own life, in the seasons where there seems to be little happening, just empty branches, stark and bare, in those times there is often deep growth and even transformation that is happening that’s only shown in the light of the next season, when the preparation is needed for new growth. Just as the loss of leaves in autumn, die and go into the soil in winter but produce nourishment for the growth of spring, my hope is that even our losses and the starkness of our last year will prepare us deeply for new growth as individuals and as a global community. Just as bulbs and seeds lie in the ground in winter and there seems to be nothing happening but then they are able to make the beauty of spring flowers, my hope is that we will bring forth beauty even from this harsh ‘winter’ season.
Can we emerge more compassionate, more sure of what our world needs now and more willing to be part of the answer?
I also found this strange tree so encouraging. It had clearly been knocked down and most of its roots pulled up and exposed. But the tree hadn’t died and small branches had started to grow in a different direction, so that the strong new growth of the tree is standing upright. If we feel we have been knocked down, can we continue to grow, even if it’s in a changed direction, still stretching towards the light?
Please be gentle on yourself, let’s grieve our losses and be ready to bring forth beauty and kindness into this new season.
A few resources some may find helpful:
This piece from the Harvard Business Review was at the end of March 2020 and I found it so helpful, and still is – ‘The discomfort you’re feeling is grief’ – and that was before most of the losses of the year had even begun.https://www.google.co.uk/…/that-discomfort-youre…
And here’s some resources from Marie Curie for those grieving… https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/…/day-of…/grief-resources
Mother City Murmurs 