Seasons

Life in Cycles

One conversation that stuck with me for a long time was regarding seasons, or more precisely, the lack of seasons in Guatemala. When I told this friend (Mari) that we didn’t have proper Autumn or Winter, her immediate reaction was: So how do you learn to let things go? I didn’t understood at all what she meant, until I lived in a country that had the 4-seasons.

Now I see the beauty of it. Summer never felt so good in any other moment in my life, because I haven’t lived an entire winter waiting for the sun to shine. Swimming outdoors was not rewarding, but an statement that we will not freeze if we do so and then relax in the beach. A walk in the snow after the sauna does not feel the same if it’s not minus 15 degrees, flowers blooming in the snow have a charm that I cannot describe, and the endless orange tones of leaves during autumn makes me want to stay in that season forever.

And then we need to speak about everything else that we let go; Our cloths, our outdoors activities, the dishes and ingredients that we have, and the general availability of everything. Our friends who visit us for the summer, and people who go far away for the holidays. It’s all cycles of accepting and letting go.

So for me, now, this is something that we lack in the countries closer to the equator. If I decide to skip a winter one day and go back to my endless sun country, I know that deeply, I’ll miss the dark days and the cozy atmosphere. In the meantime, I reflect a lot about this phrase:

I enjoy enjoy every second of life, and hand deeply into it

but I wouldn't raise a finger to stop it's destruction.