Discoverin' Dormancy

Song: New Attitude by Patti Labelle

“know where I am going and know what to do”

People ask me what my favorite season is, and honestly, I don’t really know. What I do know is that I have a strong fondness for nature at 2 different time periods: When leaves begin to change color and drop in Autumn and when Spring ephemerals pop through late winter snow. I’m fascinated with the beginning and ending of Dormancy.

Watching to see how long it takes for trees to release their leaves. Going over in my head the list of things that went right and wrong for the year, what I need to let go. Understanding that each season I’m able to let go of something or someone with healthy coping habits is a beautiful thing for me to experience. I’m watching myself change in real time, the way I watch leaves ombre into golds, rusts, burgundies before their final descent. Just like trees benefit from the nutrients of the soil created in part by the leaves they dropped, I benefit by receiving peace, experience and wisdom when choosing to view my personal losses or leaves as food for growth.

When Spring ephemerals pop up (tulips, daffodils, hellebores, crocuses), especially when the winter seems to never end, I feel a sense of relief and curiosity. How they were maintained and protected from Late May to Mid-March, affects how they show up. For most, they don’t deter from their cycle. They show up so alert and beautiful, like a perfect shot of espresso. And because they only last for a couple of weeks, it forces the rest of Nature to get ready for the official new year. They force me to see the reality of what happens when I don’t overexpose myself and remain consistent in my cycle of being myself. Some are so beautiful you can’t take your eyes and sometimes hands off, some are an immediate source of food for wildlife coming out of hibernation, and some are just as toxic and deadly as the day is long. Realizing that the more cycles of life I go through, at times I am a source of true support for those who are starving for connection, that I am beautiful and its okay for my beauty to be admired properly a.k.a. hands off and at times I am a source of discomfort for those who chose to misunderstand and/or mishandle me.

So instead of someone asking me what my favorite season is, a better question could be of what season am I in?

Garden Wisely