What’s Your Season?

Life consists of seasons, and, weather-wise, as I type this post, we are beginning my favorite season: fall.

I live in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, where fall colors are beautiful and abundant this time of year. I would put our fall foliage up against any in the entire world. A couple days a week, I cross a mountain to work at another campus, and the scenery is breathtaking once the calendar turns to October. My wife and I got married in mid-October at the season’s peak, and our wedding pictures are even more special with the brilliant colors in the background.

Next comes winter. I am not really a fan of that one. The brilliant colors eventually go away, and we’re left with barren trees and gray landscapes. Add in snow and freezing temperatures, and I am not crazy about it. The winters here have been fairly mild the last few years, so spring weather comes sooner with its promise of warmer temps and green returning to the foliage.

We won’t even talk about summer. Extreme heat is not my friend. Let’s just say I’m in a relationship with air conditioning, and it is serious.

What about real, everyday life? Do we go through seasons? Absolutely.

If I had to name the season my family and I have been going through lately, I would call it “rough.” I will spare you the details, but it has been comparable to a long winter. I am not complaining, because I know three basic truths: (1) I am still blessed beyond measure; (2) God is still in control; (3) seasons like this one don’t last forever.

Writing falls into this idea of seasons as well. Some writing seasons are full  and creative, when the ideas and the contracts are flying like the leaves flying off the trees. Other seasons are a bit barren, when creativity is hard and the words and contracts aren’t coming. The advice I have for this type of season, just like a rough patch in life, is to hold on.

Just as it can’t be fall all year long, writing can’t be on “high” level all the time. Valleys happen, and we have to learn how to live with them and deal with them. Maybe your current writing feels like it isn’t going well, but you don’t have to be stagnant. This could be the time to brush up on your skills, experiment with a different genre, or write something just for you with no plan for publication. Exercising your writing muscles even without an official assignment is valuable.

It may seem cliché, but seasons do change. Enjoy (or endure) the current season and look forward to the next. Now, let’s go play in some leaves!