Spring has arrived with its typical back-and-forth kind of weather here in the Midwest, the kind that gets me excited with a few days of warm sunshine but then goes back to being colder and more dreary than I would prefer for a little longer. However, my heart fills with joy to see the signs of life budding in some of the earliest trees and flowers, and I am also continually reminded that there are gifts and lessons in every season, no matter the weather.
I always appreciate how Emily P. Freeman goes about the practice of sharing what she learns in each season, and she often references Jan Johnson and John Dewey, who have notably asserted,
“It’s not the experience that brings transformation;
it’s our reflection upon our experience.”
Keeping this in mind, I wanted to take a few moments to look back on this past winter and share a few things I’ve been learning or re-learning in the past season:
1) Sometimes I need a change of pace in my reading/listening life.
After finishing my master’s degree last summer, I was so excited to have more freedom in what I would choose to read, so I thought of (and bought!) many books I planned to read in the seasons ahead. What I was not expecting was how long my reading rut would last with the exhaustion of completing such a milestone combined with a new job that I love but that also takes a lot out of me mentally and emotionally. So instead of reading books on spiritual formation or personal growth (which I definitely want to come back to soon), I have done something completely unexpected for me and started listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks this past winter.
I had never read any of the books or watched any of the movies in the series before, but my niece loves them, and I decided on a whim to try it since I was having trouble concentrating on other types of books or even on some of the podcasts I have always enjoyed listening to. I happened upon a thread online where someone was asking for audiobook recommendations, and one of the responses mentioned that Jim Dale did an excellent job narrating the Harry Potter series, so I took the plunge on book one in December and am just now making my way to book seven.
The change of pace has been a good mental break for me in an overloaded season. Sometimes we just need to get lost in a story to keep some sanity for reality.
2) Fiction has a way of powerfully telling the truth.
This is something I’ve known for a long time, but I’ve had fresh reminders as I’ve been reading more fiction lately. One illustration of this truth stands out from one of my favorite quotes from the first book in the Harry Potter series, The Sorcerer’s Stone. Coming to the end of chapter 10, Harry and his friend Ron had not gotten along well with a know-it-all girl named Hermione, a fellow first-year student at Hogwarts at the time. However, their circumstances led them to a situation where they were fighting for their lives against a giant troll, and after they secured the victory, their relationships changed. Author J.K. Rowling describes it like this:
“But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.”
I can’t help but think what relationships are formed or strengthened by fighting trolls in various ways, whether working together on a meaningful project, coming alongside someone for encouragement when things feel hopeless, or battling in prayer together. Indeed, “there are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other.” And I am grateful. I appreciate the way this timeless truth stood out even in the middle of a fictional story of fantasy.
3) I still need to make time and space to process grief.
Even though I find myself advocating for this necessity often, especially when encouraging others, I still find myself coming back to and re-learning this truth for myself over and again as well. It has been eight years since my husband’s death, but certain days and moments still find grief hitting me in a deep place.
I try to be intentional about carving out time for remembering, journaling in prayer, and processing my thoughts and emotions, but it can be challenging to create this space when grief anniversaries coincide with holidays or even just with busy work days and much that needs to be done in either case.
This past winter has brought a couple of notable reminders of how important it is to keep making space for acknowledging grief in time alone with my heavenly Father and with the people closest to me even as I embrace joy and continue living a full life day by day.
4) I now know what a rupee is.
I have been loving playing the online game Wordle over the past few months, and I’ve been learning a few new words in the process. Each day, the goal is to guess the five-letter word for the day within six tries. Part of the draw for me with the original version of Wordle is you only play once per day, and everyone who plays that day gets the same word, so it’s fun to share scores with friends (without giving spoilers to give away the answer!).
But I have to admit that every once in a while it can be frustrating to not be able to figure out the word or guess something you are unsure of but that fits with the letters you have already correct and the ones you have remaining. “Rupee” was one of those days several weeks ago. By process of elimination, I had decided it was the most logical choice for a guess after having some other letters in place, but I had to use Google to know what it actually was. (If you’re curious but don’t want to make the effort yourself, a rupee is the basic monetary unit of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and more.)
Another word that stumped me this past winter was “swill,” and that day was even more frustrating because I had several guesses where I was only getting the second letter wrong for the day’s answer. Still, spill, and skill all seemed like better choices to me!
But the simple word challenge is fun, and I enjoy playing and sharing each day, plus learning a few new words every once in a while as well (even if it gets me confounded in the moment). I’d love to know if you have been caught up in the Wordle craze, too!
5) Multiple journals can multiply gratitude.
One of the most life-giving routines I have in this season is taking extra time on the weekends (usually on Saturday mornings at my favorite local coffee shop) to reflect on the past week using a few different journals. I have a plain dotted notebook I use as a prayer journal and then also enjoy the prompts Emily P. Freeman includes in her The Next Right Thing Guided Journal as well as recording highlights in a One Line a Day five-year memory book. Even though each of these journals has a bit of a different purpose in guiding my reflections and prayers, every once in a while I find myself recording something of the same event in each one as I look back at the end of the week. It swells my heart with gratitude to remember my favorite moments of the week, and it especially multiplies my thanksgiving and praise if I end up referencing them in three different places. It is such a blessing to remember and record the ways God provides to help grow my gratitude and my faith.
I’d always love to hear from you, too! Do you have a routine or practice of gratitude that is especially helpful for you? Are there any lessons or special treasures that stand out to you from this past season? Feel free to leave a comment below or send me a message any time to let me know! And if you haven’t already, you can sign up using the “Let’s stay in touch” form below if you’d like to receive blog updates and “Treasure Hunt Tuesday” email notes from me. (Be sure to click to confirm in your initial email to complete the sign-up process also.) I would love to stay in touch to share treasures of encouragement each week!
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