Let The Landslides Come
In 2017, our little family underwent many changes, with ‘littles’ (my niece and nephews) suddenly becoming college-aged and young adults. Back then, I wrote a little piece about change and how time was rolling on. As I wrote, I suddenly remembered a photo of the two of us from when we were little, before the floor fell out of our family, and in it, I am giving the side-eye to someone (my friends love that photo; I will share it in this post). I realized my Sis and I were giving the side-eye a bit to the season winding down with the kids. It had been hard, but we loved them as littles and teenagers. Those were some super special years.
Since this was September of that year, I had been in therapy for almost a year and a half, which meant I was smart enough to know I was struggling with the changes in our family but not yet wise enough to source out all of the reasons.
I also had a company that was shy of five years old and was set to double again for the fifth straight year. That is a lot of growth and change daily, except with it, whole families belonging to your employees are impacted by how well you handle it.
When I read my words from back then, I am struck by how aware I was that there are sweet seasons even in challenges and change. I wrote about how I could now look at that photo of Sis and me and see the sweetness of that season, not the pain awaiting us just around the corner. It was one of those moments when you realize that all the hard work you do to get healthy is working. You are not done, but you are not where you once were.
I noted in the writing that I was listening to “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, a favorite.
In my words and the song, the common denominator is that healing teaches you that sweet seasons aren’t simply the easy ones, but are often the ones full of changes, new growth, and messy goodness.
As I finalize some projects and a to-do list that I have been working on for a solid year since returning from sabbatical…and continue to trudge through on other to-do lists…and hold tightly still to another list of hopes and dreams - I love that I came across this small piece of writing.
Sure, time is slipping, and of course, it feels like it slips by faster with each passing year. But I am also better at using my voice, speaking my truth, meeting people where they are, and asking that I be met where I am. I never hold back an “I love you,” even when unsure of the reaction or if I am in the middle of some awkwardness with the other person. I hug more and longer (which is really saying something).
So maybe it is the changing seasons as we shift into autumn, or it is simply the winding down of some massive tasks, or it is merely the reading of old words while I am writing fresh ones. Still, the nostalgia drifted in today, and I wonder what the little Miss Priss in this photo giving someone the side-eye would think of where she is today.
We grow. We heal. We change. We love.
Sending lots of love today.
…and Happy Autumn.
Author’s Note: I recorded the voiceover today for my last post Your Magic Lives On so I am sharing the link to that post if you would like to go back and listen to it.