Seasons of Change
BRITTANY HANDLER
SEPT 2022
Change seems to be a huge theme right now. Not just with myself—I am noticing it all around me too. There are big moves, career shifts, big life changes, and not to mention the seasons changing as well.
Something that I have noticed within myself is that change tends to bring up grief. And what I am realizing on a deep level is that more than often, it’s not the ‘thing’ I am letting go of that brings grief—it’s the metaphorical death of the person that I once was with that thing, person, place, time, role. It’s realizing that a previous form of ‘comfort’ is transitioning.
Any change is challenging, even if it’s a conscious choosing. It’s challenging to let go of an attachment to something outside of us, and letting go of an attachment to our former self—that is no joke.
For me, I’ve noticed that change can make me initially ‘freeze’ & put me in a disoriented frenzy. My system tends to freak out and reach for logical procedures to ‘figure it out.’
The logical mind will say we need to ‘do, do, do’ in order to acclimate. But I’ve been learning that the most valuable & supportive thing we can ‘do’ when facing challenges or change, is actually: pause…feel…be a mess…and contemplate.
I believe challenge is where the deepest growth can take place, especially when we are willing to go inward. These existential pauses are where we can learn the most about ourselves. And it is also in these moments where curiosity can be our saving grace…
What do I need to nourish myself?
What am truly feeling right now—and how can I nurture these emotions?
What isn’t working anymore?
What do I need to feel supported/safe right now?
Where can I shift my perspective to empower me?
Baby steps + Receptivity + Patience + Perseverance. This is how we can reconnect to our rhythms, our genius, our flow. And just like nature always has its way of attuning, we too will attune to the new. With time it will all naturally come together—always.