The story in Simple Abundance of a melancholy Queen may seem a little disconnected from our realities, but the message is profound in its simplicity. The entry ends with "This, too, shall pass". Both an inspiration and a fear. The focus as we begin November is to prepare for the year's closure. For some this is a melancholy time. Maybe hopes, dreams and aspirations will not only not be realized but forever lost. Maybe goals set at the inspirational beginning of the year were quickly abandoned. But the message here is deeper than the story. Melancholy has set in. Not the can't get off the couch kind. I once had a doctor ask me about being depressed. When I asked her to define it she clarified. Do I spend the day in bed because I can't face the day? Am I unable to keep my commitments for work, family or child schedules. I remember asking if those things were an option! Do people really get to choose those things? How do the bills get paid? The clothes get washed? Maybe if I had known those things were options I would have considered them. She assured me this was just an indication that I wasn't depressed (a symptom of a syndrome that I have). But melancholy, well that's a different beast. To me the difference is that even while I attend to those daily responsibilities I can't shake the feeling of dread, of despair, of hopelessness. I'm just going through the motions. And while there are reasons, it still isn't a pleasant place to be.
Back to the queen. The wise gardener is the only one in the kingdom willing to incur her wrath in an effort to help. He tells her that "Earthly souls ebb and flow in sorrow and joy according to the seasons of emotion, just as the seasons of the natural world move through the cycle of life, death and rebirth". We often forget to look to the natural world, the seasons, for guidance. As we enter this season we must remember that even as "the season of daylight diminishes and the time of darkness increases" "the true Light is never extinguished in the natural world, and it is the same in your soul". We need to remember to "embrace the ebb", and "not fear the darkness". And there is a promise in this. For just as the seasons complete their annual cycle "Light will return and you will know contented hours once again. Of this I am sure". While the season of darkness, of winter, of the stillness that seems as death is upon us, it is from this time of rest that rebirth occurs. The spring is coming. The promise of light and rebirth; of hope. In the meantime, I'll be riding the ebb and flow. Learning from this season with the promise that this, too, shall pass.
Expressing gratitude today for:
1. the comfortable chair I sit on every day at work (a Christmas present from Bennett)
2. the excitement I share with my students as they plan their future (college acceptances are starting to roll in!)
3. a special date day with Bennett last Saturday at his favorite place in the world
