Harvest Time

“Harvest will be in 2 or 3 weeks” he said as he showed me the beautiful plants. He spoke about the seasons and how the late fall harvest was his favorite, that there were many items planted then as well. He shared how some plants take hold over the winter and it allows them to create their fruit of their labor by the next fall. Winter was important in the process.  He said it all with excitement and a sense of looking forward to it versus dreading the seasons changing.

In the past, fall has always meant death to me. My brother died in the fall. My mom died in the fall. The leaves and plants die in the fall. The fall turns to winter. Winter is my least favorite time of the year. It brings dread for me. The sun isn’t out long enough to enjoy, the air is cold, snow and ice covered roads can be treacherous.  Everything around me is dead or dying. Life is boring, can’t be outside for long. People hibernate. I hibernate.

After listening to my cousin speak about harvest time, it made me think about fall through his eyes. It is a time for him to reap what he sowed. It is a time to make money from what he grew. It is a time to celebrate his hard work. And it is a time to think about what he wants to plant for next year, ready the earth before the frost and plant what will need to be planted in the fall to harvest in the spring. It is a time to rejoice for his efforts and to take a rest from his hard work.

Hmmm, what if we thought about fall and winter with that same lens? Imagine, right now we begin to reap what we sowed all year. All of the work we have done to become a better version of ourselves. We have changed mindsets, we have calmed hearts. We have worked out of feelings of rejection. We have laid groundwork for our businesses, our learning or our future endeavors. We have built new alliances. We have let go of toxic relationships. We have removed people who cause us to question our worth.

Perhaps during the first 3/4’s of the year, the foundation for new miracles, for new opportunities was laid. The fall into winter is when we actualize it all. When all of the pieces come together. We get to rejoice in our efforts and take a rest from our own hard work. It becomes a very different season, one of birth, of consciousness, of growth. Not of death and dying. Not the fall and winter of today.