All Stages of Life Are Equally Sacred (Feb 27 2023)
On my clinic step, on each side of my door, I have planter pots. In the Summer they were abloom with pink and purple lavatera and cosmos. They were cheerful and bright and lovely. And now they are… dead. And yet not there by accident. I didn’t just forget to dispose of them, or not yet get around to doing it (which believe me, I DO do, a lot). Instead, I decided to use them as a reminder that all stages of the cycle of life are equally sacred, as my teacher Dr Edward Neal frequently reminds us.
As a culture, we are very much enamoured with the Spring phase of life. Birth! Babies! Beauty! Youth! Lushness and suppleness and bright shiny objects. And even if we TRY to say we DO believe that there is beauty is all seasons of nature and aging… Well, when we’re honest we still mostly don’t look at wrinkles and withering as AS beautiful. Maybe as “inevitable”. Maybe with gratitude for health and life “despite” the “downsides” of aging. But what if we truly lived as though aging was as beautiful and amazing as youth, and the end of life was as inspiring as the beginning?
It is now Winter. Still Winter. Somewhat unexpectedly so for a lot of North America. It is the time of the Water element and the Kidney energy, and all that this encompasses. Coldness, darkness, storage, completion, death.
And yes, the kernels - the sleeping seeds of Spring - waiting quietly to emerge. But THEY are not the beauty and value of Winter. The value of Winter is the qualities of Winter itself. In Chinese Medicine, this is the opportunity to go within, to rest, to replenish, and to recharge our batteries. So that when Spring and Summer do appear we can be ready to sprout, stretch, grow, blossom, expand. If we continue to go go go during these Winter, Yin, months, this will have an impact on our ability move fully into the Yang months of the year - and of our lives.
So, rest, replenish, complete some projects on your back burner (or don’t, they can wait too), knowing that like the bare trees with their snow covered branches, you are in harmony with the season. And will be ready for Spring soon.