What is it with rainy days that lets us feel like we’re off the hook? We don’t have to be chipper, it’s okay (in fact admirable) to order take-out for lunch, and you consider yourself a champion if you actually brave the weather and make it to yoga after work instead of going straight home (all of these efforts are a little more dramatic from a city dweller’s routine). Like the four seasons, I love the highs and lows of weather. Having been raised in the quintessential “north east” part of the states, my spring has always been sweeter because of my winter and the winter calm has always been necessary after the whirlwind of summer and fall. Don’t get me wrong, like the rest of you, I am so ready to pack my puffer coat away until next year….but looking back on the adult years of my life, I’ve always needed the cycle—and to me, each part is equally important. This is kind of a funny question, but once I asked my mom and my best friend how they envisioned the seasons in their mind….what their mental image of the 4 seasons looks like (does this make sense?). I remember my mom answering that she saw the seasons as a straight line (I think starting with spring), and Eugenie answering that she saw them on an incline, with winter at the bottom. I was curious because I had always seen the seasons plotted along a circle. Anyway, I guess we can’t look too much into this, but it’s kind of interesting, right?
So today, on this very rainy, would-do-anything-to-be-back-in-bed day, I just wanted to propose a toast: to YOU, this cruel yet so necessary season, and cutting yourself a little slack, especially on days like today (you really are enough).
go for long walks. indulge in hot baths. question your assumptions. be kind to yourself. live for the moment. lose up, scream, curse the world. count your blessings. just let go, just be.
- carol shields
