Keeping with the exploration of the second half of life, in February I attended “The Spirituality of Aging,” which provided aging in the framework of the seasons:
| Spring | 0-25 |
| Early Summer | 26-50 |
| Late Summer | 51-64 |
| Autumn | 65-75 |
| Winter | 76+ |
I discovered I’m in Late Summer with plenty of years to go before Autumn. One certainty is the fruits are abundant in Late Summer! Think of the flower gardens, farmer’s markets and produces stands in Late Summer.
During the first session, we received a handout and the suggestion to take time to remember significant events, challenges and lessons learned within the seasons of life. Having always reviewed my life in decades (20s’, 30’s, 40s), reviewing the years in a season revealed transitions from season to season. I saw end points and new beginnings that aligned to the seasons more than the decades.
The seasons offered an interconnectedness I didn’t see when I only viewed my life by the decades.
There is something comforting in the seasons and cycles. For example, if we’re in Late Summer, we have experienced at least fifty winter seasons. We know the dark, barren winter will become spring. We have encountered sorrows and heartbreak, grief and fear, and so much more. Yet, we have also experience joy and new life. There have been horrific world events and joyous world events. Even now, during this time of social distancing and great upheavals, I find a simple comfort watching spring grow: truly watching the leafing of the trees and the budding of plants. (A version of “watching the grass grow!”) There is a subtle quiet rhythm, and right now I have the wide open time to pay attention. Every day there’s something new in nature as spring blossoms, just as there’s something new in the news media.
I’m instantly reminded of the film “The Biggest Little Farm.” When John Chester started encountering problems on the farm, he started paying attention to life–moving past the surfaces by observing/watching (and seeing the interconnectedness within all the details), and found the solution. (For example, I think the snail population on the fruit trees was reduced by the ducks.) As I watched the film last year, I wondered how I could apply this practice of “attending to Life” in my life… maybe I am doing it now?
I have no answers but there is time and spring continues to bloom outside.
This is the creative meander.
The Biggest Little Farm: a 10-mintue preview
creative meander 
Jean, as always, beautifully written! What a valuable way to look at life, through the seasons instead of the decades. The decades seem to mark end of a time in our lives, the seasons bring everything with us as we move through our own seasons.
Hi Lisa,
Well said! Decades do seem to mark an end and a loss, another step away from “youth.” The seasons of aging framework helped me see the new growth and the fruits in each season. And each season informs the next.