Seasons for All

Handprints on Hearts

There is a song in "Wicked" called "For Good."  In it are lyrics that tug at my heartstrings, words that speak to memories made by people who spend time together.  This week, after 23 years of providing tender loving care to hundreds of infants, toddlers, young children, and even tweens, my sister closed the doors to her beloved day care business.  She will forever be in the hearts of the children she cared for, the parents she befriended, and the ladies who worked beside her over the years.  It's sad to see someone's life's work end, and it certainly isn't any easier when it is someone as close as your sister.  Here is the song from "Wicked" that sums up this kind of good-bye.

Storm Watch

As reflected in national news headlines, California is getting slammed this week by  a series of winter storms -- thunder, lightning, and heavy rain.  The latest storm peaked last night at the same time (a) I learned a friend who lives in Kansas had to postpone finishing a very important goal, (b) Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts was won by the Republican candidate, and (c) a graduate school professor I know told all his 4.0 GPA master's students that the papers they'd turned in last week were "trash." 

All that occurred within the same 30-minute period of time. 

I love the rain and, most of the time, I feel some relief from an internal barometer as soon as it begins to fall.  But not this week.  It's as though intensity is building rather than releasing, and the wake of the damage conjures up notions similar to changes that occur when Mercury goes retrograde.  And that's  putting it mildly.  The all-too-real images and stories of the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti and, early this morning an aftershock registering 6.0, are horrible.  Helpless people who don't deserve life- and quality-of-life-ending disasters.  I hope the heroes  who are arriving in Haiti this week can help them soon enough.

Taking the path of least resistance is not the solution to this week's events.  Instead, it's time to be on guard and to ensure not everything is lost.  It's time to be certain there will soon be no more storms to weather, literally and figuratively.  It's time to be on watch.  Storm watch. 

I'm going to see "Wicked" next month.  In "The Wizard of Oz," the storm ended when the little house from Kansas landed in Munchkin Land, on the Wicked Witch of the East.  Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, became the villain in the story.  But apparently there's  a back story  about the bad witch that tells us she was good.

There is grace.  It needs to arrive in California this week.  And it needs to arrive in Haiti even sooner. 

In the Quiet of Winter

Once the holidays are over, it seems each year I enjoy even more than before the simplicity of leafless branches, icy color palettes, and the peaceful glow of candles.  There is a quiet this time of year that invites contentment of the soul and appreciation for natural beauty.  Days are short and cold, and long winter's naps often take precedence over activities better suited for other seasons.  For now, minimalism in life is welcome, and so is the quiet of winter.    

 

Photo Credit: Victoria Magazine 

New Year, New Observations

On the first day of a conference I attended the summer before last, the facilitator asked the members of the group to introduce themselves and to, in just a couple of sentences, share with everyone how they see themselves in a group dynamic.  I described myself as an "observer," rather than a participant, and I described myself as a "passive facilitator" of the work that needs to be accomplished.  Behavior is interesting, and lack of behavior is equally fascinating.  

As 2010 (pronounced twenty-ten) begins, I anticipate many more opportunities to observe behaviors on many different levels.  The trick is to interpret that behavior, but without judgment.  Most of the time, that's easy to do.

There is much to look forward to this year.  "Making seasons bright" should certainly continue beyond the winter solstice.  Cheers to a new year and new observations!