I’ve been feeling a little slow… who is with me? I am just not moving the same. But I do not want to stay in this place so I have been doing all I can to look for inspiration all around me. Then, I stumbled on this on the way into my office this week. It was just a little bud, but everything was so brown and this was so green and vibrant. Little, but grand! I thought about the strength it takes to push through a bunch of muck and be able to make it out the other side. I realized that is how I have been feeling.

I am not saying anything groundbreaking by saying that we all have seasons, but I want to remind you of this in case you have not heard it lately. We all have seasons. Every one of us. We are no different from nature in this way. Every year flowers like these know it is time to go underground and rest for a while. Maybe they don’t like it. Who knows? But they do it. We have to accept this too. We cannot be “on” all the time. Whether you voluntarily lost your beauty and got covered in dirt- or you were forced there- accept that this is not your fate. It is not particular to you. It is not a punishment. It is a time to learn, grow, rest, and do everything you need to do to emerge stronger when it is time.

This is a hard lesson to learn, maybe especially so for creatives. Think about all the actors who could not tape their shows or perform on Broadway over the last two years. Or the artists who could not show their work in galleries. And authors like me who could not connect with the public because school visits were out and book festivals were off. All of us were affected in someway by being forced to lay low. This vision of these bright green buds defiantly pushing their way back reminded me that I will do that too. I just need to get ready.

What will you do when you emerge from darkness this year? Practice empathy and mindfulness as a part of your self-care. Spend some time sitting in silence and repeating this statement in your head. What is your heart calling you to do? What do you want to cross off your list or achieve? Who do you want to be? You are in there.

It is time to come out and shine again. Let’s get ready together.