October is one of my favorite months of the year because, at least in North Carolina, it is the birth of autumn. The air doesn’t get cooler, the trees don’t get more vibrant and the atmosphere doesn’t get “fallish” until October. Autumn is my favorite season for a number of reasons but one of the big ones is the clear watershed that marks its entrance as opposed to the gradual parade of summer and winter, which often act like slightly more radical extensions of their sister seasons (spring and autumn). There’s something special about spring and autumn and their uniquely abrupt arrivals. There is something that makes it clear that something is finished and a new thing is starting. Maybe, my perspective is shaped by the reality that North Carolina enjoys only two seasons (HOT & NOT) of varying degrees in practicality. Regardless, the transformation of summer to autumn is a landmark event that I look forward to each year.
Similarly, I think the arrival of new seasons of life is an exciting experience. For a long time I thought of my life in terms of seasons but only in as far as they resembled the chapters of the cliche drama known as the “American Dream”. The three-act drama is familiar. Act one is setting the stage: education, going to college, getting a job, starting a family. Act two is the meat of the story but often leaves us most disappointed: raising kids, building a career, sowing our seeds when time and place allow. The third act is a hazy and uncomfortable necessity: growing old, retiring, losing control of our lives, and finally fading away.
I still believe in the existence of “seasons of life” but I’m not sure that the narrative that we’ve been accustomed to is the correct perspective on those seasons. I believe there is a season of preparation that starts with birth and follows through to mid-adulthood. I also think there is a season of building something substantial in the present that we pour our passions and our resources into. This could be described as our “life work”. The final season of life as I see it (from my limited line of sight) is the season of nurturing. As age sets in, our wisdom can be applied to the vigorous actions of others in different seasons. The wise old men can’t be called upon to scale the battlements but their wisdom can still be applied to the battle.
Understanding our place in the timeline of our lives is important. Knowing what season of life we are in is a critical step in living well in that season. We must also remember that no season of life is more “important” than another. Preparation is not always flamboyant but it is integral. Likewise, influence and wisdom-sharing may strike us as boring but, done the right way, can be impactful and rousing.
What season of life are you in now? Are you in an “October”; a transition between seasons? How can you live well in this season?