Transformation

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own;
and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave,
it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy
that we can scarcely mark their progress.

Charles Dickens

(Right after the December storm)

(Monday Morning)

The other morning as I savored my morning coffee on my back porch, I began to think of transformation.  The ground itself is dead and bare, the trees naked with no blanket to shield them from the wind, but soon, this will all change.  The transformation of nature is both fascinating and inspirational.  This past winter has been one of the snowiest on record in my neck of the woods, and as the snow melts away, it  gives way to the hidden world beneath that awaits the yearly cycle of rebirth. Where once lay seemingly dead plants, newness takes its turn. Take the bush in the pictures above, for example.  Several weeks ago I thought it was beyond all hope; today, it is once again coming alive as nature begins to demonstrate again what a truly miraculous and amazing world we live in. 

...And, just as nature, life is a series of changes that mold us and shape us.  From the smallest to the most dynamic, there is constant change, and even the smallest of changes can lead us to transform our lives...just as nature transforms hers.  Follow the seasons and you will see the process of life played out.  From each season, we gather the seeds of wisdom to carry with us and help us through the next season. I am who I am today as a result of a series of transformations that ranged from leaving a life of victimization to a total change of career at midlife.  None of it was easy, and there were many times I wondered if change and transformation was really what I needed for my life was in chaos....

...yet, although we may, at times, feel that our life is in a state of chaos, it's important to remember that nothing ever happens chaotically because, like nature, and the changing of the seasons, there is always order and design in our changes. Growth is a part of life, and without change, there will be no growth.  

From the tiny acorn comes the mighty Oak.  This seed of potential is in each of us.  Nature is, indeed, our gift in life...the physical  manifestation of the true miracles, beauty and the complex simplicity in life. Spring is on its way with a renewal of all that died away in Autumn; it is a time of new beginnings which instills and renews within, a greater sense of hope, peace and appreciation for life and all it has to offer.

Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.- Henry David Thoreau