Honoring the Seasons

Many of us have nine to five type jobs, rising, working and bedding ritualistically. It is what we expect to do as good employees and what the companies expect of us. Since we depend on our paychecks, we follow like good soldiers of the American workforce. No matter the season, we do the same things over and over, and in the summer, get treated to a vacation, a break from the routine. No matter the time, daylight saving or standard, the pesky alarm interrupts our dreams, and soon we leave for work whether on a sunny morning or in the dark, in snow, rain, heat or gloom of night. We follow regimentedly, robotically. I have long felt that one of the many reasons there is so much "depression" - the dissatisfaction sort - in our culture is that we don't honor the seasons. We don't adapt our lifestyles for the seasons. We fail to take time to look beyond at the backdrop of everchanging nature in our focused and duty filled lives and recognize how seasons influence our lives. But we are all affected by climate change, air pressure, hours of sunlight, ions in the atmosphere, rough winds, the feel of rain, the fresh greens of spring, and the grays of winter. Sometimes our obligations to work, to home, and to what we consider to be our basic needs become all we believe we can do, and changes that the seasons bring may become nuisances when they interfere with our routines. I have no way to control how business does business. If for example I recommended that on a lovely day our bosses tell us, "Go enjoy!" they probably wouldn't do it, even if it would make the employees happier. Most of us can't choose to picnic on a summer day rather than show up for work, but I suggest we use some of our thinking time to honor the seasons themselves and breathe out a few aahhs as we do.