As Seasons Change...

Recently when asked at what point I decided to become a writer, I was bemused by the question as I thought about it. Was there ever a defining moment for me when I knew I wanted to be a writer? I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write; or a time when I wasn’t reading. Even before I knew what letters and words were, I was attempting to express myself in toddler hieroglyphics. I wrote on everything with anything. I thought that the toilet paper roll was the perfect design for writing my stories down.  I wrote, and then rolled it back up. But for some reason, none of my stories survived my childhood.

I have always believed that every person is born with a special talent that they can discover, develop and share with others. It makes us unique individuals and what drives some of us to do great things. Sometimes our gift is so intensely passionate that it consumes us until our destiny is realized. Other times fears, encumbrances, or misfortunes prevent us from achieving our ambitious desires. Many extremely gifted people have simply not been able to attain their lifelong aspirations; but definitely not for lack of struggling. Perhaps, for some, their time has not yet come.

Much time passed before I was able to indulge in my passion of writing due to family obligations. I thought about what I would write if given the opportunity. Throughout the years, I honed the talent within myself, before allowing it to be publicly manifested. However, it is a major misconception that all writers are great orators. In my case, I fear public speaking. I can converse with nearly everyone about almost anything, but most of the time, I need time to sort out my thoughts. Nevertheless, I absolutely abhor speaking before an audience. The thrill of excitement that performers embrace onstage is not unlike finding the perfect sentence for a writer; while both are creatively inspired, their methods of achievement are vastly different. Over the years, I developed my writing, but not my public speaking skills.

As an admirer of words, I’ve appreciated all styles of analogies, opinions, and creative thoughts with panache shared by others. One of the most inspiring parallels I’ve enjoyed is about how the seasons of the year are likened to a person’s lifetime. I’ve often thought about how springtime is associated with birth and it’s relation to all things new. Because I have six children, the relevance has been uncanny. And since I have a large brood, I have done an enormous amount of cleaning, painting, rocking and cuddling throughout the years, which has given me ample time to ponder. Eventually the season analogy represented a sundry of different reflections for me.

Springtime to me, symbolizes the ease of life; finding your yearnings, laughing, making new friends, everything else that is happy and carefree. It’s when emotions are light and smiles are easy to come by. Springtime can happen at any point in your life, from infancy until your last breath. Also during springtime there come sudden storms and upheavals. Just when you think the weather is fine, torrential downpours or a blinding snow squaw will occur. Not unlike life. Sometimes feelings get inadvertently hurt. A remark is taken out of context, a message is misconstrued or a glance is misinterpreted. But in the springtime, these gaffs are short-lived and blow over quickly.

In the summertime, passion runs as deep as the weather is warm. There’s a heightened sense of smell, touch, taste and sight where childhood memories are made of summertime amusements. Summertime also characterizes the heat of the moment; when there seems to be no relief in sight from the searing rage of temperatures and at times, tempers. Friendships are lost forever because of the unbridled furors or unrelinquished apologies. Just as with springtime, summertime attributes can and do happen throughout your life. Remembrances, both amiable and terrible, are forever engraved in our minds.

Expressing gratitude for the bounty that autumn signifies is a fundamental indication that you have a firm grasp of reality. If we cannot find something for which we are thankful, we can never truly appreciate what we receive. Satisfaction without being satiated keeps a hunger within us to keep trying to surpass ourselves each and every day. Giving to others without regard of receiving in return is an intrinsic part of humanity. A rotting crop is as much of a failure as refusing to plant one in the first place. It’s only by unselfishly sharing your talents that will ensure that when you are in need, the harvest will always be there.

Wintertime brings with it an extraordinary, magical ambiance as the earth is covered with brilliant white snow that muffles and beautifies it, equalizing everything. It’s the time in our lives that we gather together to share our warm homes, hearty foods and generous hospitalities. The cold, hard realities of life are also recognized and the compassionate reach out to those in need. But wintertime also represents the coldness of hearts that many have embraced. This is the time of our lives when we have forsaken redemption, refuse to help one another, instead allowing greed and pride to poison our beliefs. This is where those who have look down upon those who have not. Most children do not exhibit such unabashed wintertime qualities, because it tends to be an acquired character flaw passed on by older generations.

I imagine that we are constantly in the midst of changing seasons throughout our lifetime. We may be in autumn, thankful for many opportunities and yet forget to give of our excess to those in need. At times, we may be in the temperament of the summertime scorching heat without any relief anticipated for days or weeks on end. Life’s circumstances may prevent us from moving forward as we wish, and we’re left to endure whatever trials are placed before us. Judging anyone at any given time is not an accurate depiction of who we are as a person, but it’s exactly what we do as a society.

To never have hungered for food or drink is a splendid thing, though millions of people experience this on a daily basis. Not having suffered any affliction other than losing some money in an investment is not akin to losing your home and displacing your family. Sometimes it seems as though there are privileged individuals who get to live in the highlight of all of the seasons, always enjoying happy, carefree times, exciting vacations, bountiful harvests, and fun wintertime activities. Then there are those who experience the harsh realities of unexpected storms, searing scorching heat, crop failure and lack of adequate food, shelter and clothing. To never have suffered atrocities is not a sign of superiority, just as no one deserves to go hungry, or without adequate medical care because of the choices others have made.

In the land that offers the most opportunities in the world, shouldn’t we as citizens of a united country decide to help the less fortunate when we have such abundance that crops are rotting in the fields? Should we not hold ourselves to a higher standard of compassion, by seeing a need and then filling it without provocation? Must we always have a major catastrophe, whether political, environmental or natural disaster to bring us to our knees and move us to help one another? Why are we teaching our children the cold realities of wintertime, when they should be marveling in the beauty of the freshly fallen snow?

As we move in and out of the seasons of our lives, ever changing, experiencing and overcoming, can we not forget what we’ve comprehended along the way and pass it down to others in order to make things a bit easier for those coming after us? Life will always have lessons for us to learn and ways for us to share our talents with others. How much better life would be if we could choose to help instead of harm? Show compassion instead of contempt? Give opportunities for growth instead of withholding because of greed? Because in the end, it will not matter how much one has acquired throughout his lifetime; only what he has freely given to assist a fellow man will ever count.

Please remember not everyone is at the same place in their life, with the same talents, skills, and knowledge that you’ve honed. No one can possibly be expected to fully understand anyone else’s life story when they have not explicitly lived it. Learn to ascertain the situation by allowing some grace while someone is enduring a heartrending hardship. Name calling, labeling, belittling, and discouragement have no place within a civilized society. You may only be one person, but it only takes a smile or kind word of encouragement to cheer someone up. Make a decision to make your life count for more than what you can acquire. Share your talents, your story and most importantly, your time.

Comments

[Robyn Parker]

You need to shop this article around to magazines and see if you can't get it published.

[Pamela Jey]

Robyn, any ideas where??
it would be really nice to be get paid to think/write! ;)
I'll start investigating now that the holidays are over...