I know I am the one who embraced you on this seasonal journey, and now I am asking you about seasons.
Let me introduce this concept clearly, once and for all, without judgment or flat poetry.
There is no right or wrong season, no right or wrong way to move, and no single answer in life. At least not under these articles, so to be fair to all of you, here it is.
Winter is about preservation.
It is for those moments when you know you have given your all to everything and everyone except yourself, especially when it comes to replenishing your own energy.
This is self-care, but not centered around a specific type of care. It is about putting yourself first.
Winter helps you take responsibility for your life and energy by prioritizing yourself while also learning to be gentle with yourself. Life can be demanding and that is OK, but Winter is where I tell you how not to be so easily swept away by that fact.
Spring is about growth.
Not unlimited growth, but the feeling of moving towards something again, slowly and steadily, after being stuck for so long.
Spring teaches you that growth is built one moment at a time, and the same applies to you: you can rebuild yourself one moment at a time.
There is no time limit for growth, and the main precursor to this phase of life is curiosity. Once you are no longer in survival mode or a constant state of high stress, you can finally breathe a little and become curious about the world around you again.
Summer is about expansion.
This season, or this type of energy, is probably the one most health and wellness blogs would choose as their favourite.
In reality, expansion has a price: a lot of energy, planning, anticipation and, most importantly, openness to the opportunities you are given or decide to chase.
And finally, Autumn. Here we are.
Autumn is not the end.
It is change.
Autumn represents all the changes that can impact your life, whether they are good or bad.
Some people can spend a very long time in Autumn, going through change after change without having enough time or capacity to stabilize or transform their situation.
How?
Well, Autumn left unmanaged can become Winter. In plain language, change can lead to energy depletion when it is not framed or managed properly.
Autumn can become Spring when novelty encounters curiosity, or Summer when change leads to an opportunity. It can also remain Autumn when the change has not yet stabilized and is mostly being endured.
But don't get me wrong: there is no single way in or out.
You may be in Summer and move into Spring, spending some time in what we could call a "virtuous circle" of expansion and growth, which still needs energy to keep going.
Or you can experience the worst and longest Winter through illness, grief or hardship, and eventually enter Summer before moving into a sweet Autumn, because change and growth did not stop at your door.
There is no prescribed order.
There is something you can learn in every season, even when you would never have chosen it. And even when you are not the one living through a particular season, you can learn from others.
Be open, be authentic and just live your life.
There is no correct door through which to enter this framework, and there is no season you need to reach to prove that you are doing life correctly.
Preserve when you need preservation.
Grow when you have room for growth.
Expand when you have the capacity to expand.
Adapt when life changes.
And move again when you need to.
Now, you can actually be Operational AND Dramatic.
