This picture was from a day at the North Sea, a day with steady winds that brought intermitten rainfall. I always get in the water when the opportunity presents, but I was keenly aware of my determination to swim on this particular morning. (As this point in the trip signaled that the long stretch of summer was coming to a close.)

Each season offers certain tastes, certain perspectives, certain directives and opportunities. Each season invites us to witness unique aspects of life that mirror how we experience beginnings, endings, light and dark, ebb and flow, warmth and cold. The transition between them offers us a seam– a viewing of who we thought we were and who we are to become. I love my summer self, I love how I move through a summer’s day, and I really hate to see it go. But I also just need to remember that I love my winter self as well.

There is an ancient tale of a frog king during monsoon season. As monsoon rains begin to come strongly and regularly, his puddle grows abundant, is lush and thrives, everything is granted and within reach. And then the monsoon season ends and the dry season arrives and his puddle shrinks and there is a feeling of great loss. Which is fair. And yet– what can we expect of that which is destined to change like the seasons? Our contemplation as the light changes once again– how attached did we become to the last chapter? How bound are we to what is guaranteed to change? Can we sift through our sense of self to see how we have again become identified with passing circumstances?

These questions are not meant to reproach our enjoyment of life or advocate an ascetic lifestyle. And they are definitely not here to throw us into indecision or apathy. We are routinely, like clockwork, granted such contemplations for healing and clarity. They welcome us to the depth of the moment. To the space in which we can live fully in the pure bliss of an ocean swim in late summer and not lose touch with who we are still to become, remaining actively engaged with who we have always been. 

May we continue to find our way through consciously, joyfully, receptively. May we see the delight within the changing seasons so that we are satisfied and know our wholeness. May we do the work of self-inquiry to know that our wholeness can not be stripped from us by the changing winds of time.