Change is the only constant. We can either create it or have it thrust upon us. The choice is ours.
Creating it is like the seasons. It’s an incremental process, occurring one day at a time.
There are the depths of winter. The silence. The times when we feel alone. When we feel as if no one hears or sees our point of view. We ask ourselves what it’s all worth. Is it really worth trying to create the change we seek in the world?
There is the emergence of spring. A coming of age of sorts. Commotion in the air. Spring starts with one bird — the brave bird that strays from the flock and is the first to arrive. Our efforts to create change start similarly. They start with one person. One person that’s willing to escape the herd mentality. Willing to listen. Willing to engage. Soon, one bird turns into two, three, five, until we have a flock.
A community has emerged.
There is the calmness of summer. Freedom. Openness. Joy. Our community grows. Generosity pervades.
There is the tranquility of fall. Momentum slows. Fractures emerge. Parts of the whole begin to decay. Stubbornness sets in.
And the cycle repeats itself, over and over again. Yet always different, never the same.
However, when the winter comes again, we remember the spring. It gives us hope as to what could be — and the strength to endure again in order to create the change we seek in the world.
In creating change, just as with the seasons, there is always something to celebrate. The celebration of having the courage to think differently. The celebration of building a community. The celebration of generosity. The celebration of decay and the chance to start anew. The celebration of being human.