Grey Days and Dark Nights

Grey days and dark nights don't last forever; they are just a season we move through.

I took the image of tree you can see below, in summer and then again in autumn/winter a few years ago, I recall when I saw the tree in Summer, a friend was saying, "it looks like a lady standing up among the trees".

To me it looked like a woman standing up with just her torso exposed and I felt the trees surrounding it were there covering her dignity, supporting and holding her.

Do you sometimes feel a discomfort from wanting to be held by others?  There is so much that can be gained from being held by others like feeling confidence and strong.

There is a lot of emphasis on being vulnerable and sharing all there is about you for who you are to be seen and be present, especially in social media.

Some people don't feel comfortable in sharing and exposing everything about themselves and this image with the blue sky surrounding the tree, says to me I'm sharing a part of me and protecting the rest of me, I’m allowing myself to be held and supported by others.

If you were in a place of vulnerability, would you gain comfort from being held?

When I saw this same tree again during the winter she felt totally exposed. To me it felt like a sense of vulnerability as there was nothing to surround and protect her.  There was nothing covering her dignity, nothing holding or supporting her, it was like a graveyard of bones.  This feels so much like the energy of winter to me, as a season where when we look around us and so many things that are familiar have gone, the greenery we feast our eyes on in the Summer the flowers that have blossomed, the blue skies and the sunshine that summer brings have all disappeared.

Winter is that grieving season where all that is familiar cannot be seen and we have to focus our attention on what was during the summer months but now take from the winter what it shows us.  We must find the beauty that the winter holds, there are still blue skies and the winter sun pushing through every now and again, we have a choice to find that beauty it shows us.  This is just like a grieving period for us.  That sense of coldness, isolation, not wanting to go out because it is too cold.  The ground feels hard, cold and at times frosty.  These emotions can be found in us during grief and to be amongst others is one way to help us move through it.  There is warmth in community and warmth in reflection. 

When I tune into the seasons and their cycles, it reminds me that we can do things in our own time. We can share what we want to share when we feel comfortable in doing so and know that there will come a time when we bear all that we need to.  There is no pressure to expose ourselves in the same way that others do, they are at a season in their life where they feel the time is right for them.

Just like with grief, we share out thoughts when we feel called to, we move through it at different stages, there is no time limit on how long grief will last, it can be short or long, for a lifetime as each season changes, we can be stuck in a season for a while and how we chose to walk with it is our own personal journey with grief.

As spring and summer approach, this tree will be covered up again, as she moves through the cycles.  Autumn and winter will leave her exposed to what the elements have to throw at her. 

There is such a sense of survival in what the seasons bring.  We can protect ourselves as much as we want but there comes a time when we will feel fully exposed, maybe even feel under attack.   Just like this image shows, grey days and dark nights don't last forever.  There are always blue skies in the distance and protective energy when you need to be held.

This is what calls me to create Circles, they are just like seasons, it’s that energy of holding space for others, for them to be held when they may be feeling vulnerable, moving through a transition, experiencing grow or grief .  It’s a container created for you to be still with your inner thoughts, to let your mind roam free, to be heard and witnessed if needed with no judgement, advise or direction.  You take from it what you need with what has come up for you.  Sometimes we find it easier to express ourselves with people we don’t know than with those we do, through fear of being judged.

If you feel you are moving through winter as a form of grief, or are grieving from loss, I invite you to join me in my grief Circle "Walking with Grief" as we are held in the flower energy of the Eucalyptus, encouraging us to open up our arms to see what we need in our lives and to receive, so we are able to continue to release any heavy energies of grief that we carry within us.   Click here to save your seat.