I just returned from a wonderful trip hiking in the mountains of Patagonia, Chile. This was my first experience of being so far below the equator. We got lost briefly one day, when we orientated our map according to the sun, not realizing the sun was due south not north at midday. The sun dials in South America have the hours in reverse because the sun moves counter clockwise during the day! Later it was also explained to me that the moon I was looking at was upside down to the way I normally see it in Pennsylvania! That totally boggled my mind. It was quite humbling to realize that even the planets' position in the universe is only a matter of one's perspective.

Then coming home, I had the disconcerting experience of stepping onto the plane in fall with the trees turning to gold and red and disembarking into a full blown, cherry blossoming spring. I felt completely unprepared for the outward explosion of energy and totally overwhelmed by the amount of indoor and outdoor spring cleaning that lied before me. I realized that I was physically experiencing the "Spin Cycle," perhaps our culture's most favorite and misdirected approach to change.

In her book, The Seasons of Change: Using Nature's Wisdom to Grow through Life's Inevitable Ups and Downs, Carol McClelland PhD provides a transition module based on nature's example. In short, a smooth journey through life's changes mirrors the cycle of the seasons.

- Fall is the time to acknowledge that change is approaching, get support, and create a refuge.

- Winter is the time to retreat, reflect, and reconnect with our authentic selves.

- Late winter is the time to rewrite our story, clear out the old, and create a plan for the future.

- Spring is the season to get to work and birth the new.

- And summer is the time to allow the ripening of our labors and celebrate our harvest.

The "Spin Cycle" occurs when we skip winter completely and jump right from fall into spring. In modern society we are expected to always be at the top of our productive and creative game. Often with a change of career, we feel necessity demands that we immediately jump into a new job. After an illness, its time to get right back to taking care of our responsibilities, too much time has been lost. There is no time to wallow in grief and loss; we need to just carry on. Or after ending one relationship, we eagerly find a new partner to fill the emotional and social gap. The problem is that the Spin Cycle just endlessly repeats itself. The new job or relationship is just as unfulfilling as the last. The underlying grief persists because it was never given time to process. Illness reoccurs because the body wasn't allowed to recuperate. By jumping from the old immediately into the new, without allowing time for centering and renewal, we just spin in an endlessly habitual pattern. We never get to experience the success of summer and instead constantly find ourselves right back where we started.

The wintering process is typically ignored in our culture, but ironically, it is crucial to inspiring the very productivity and creativity we so value. Without the renewal process of winter, we can never experience the rich harvest of summer. As a Life Coach supporting people in transition, it is often my job to help them create and honor the time and space necessary for reflection and renewal.

It was fascinating, traveling from the southern to northern hemisphere, to actually experience the seasonal jump of the Spin Cycle. Once I identified my distress at flying from fall right into spring, I realized that I just needed a little wintering. So before I rushed back to life as usual, I took time to journal about my trip, catch up on some much needed rest from the long journey, and share my experiences with close friends. Because I was aware of the Seasons of Change and was familiar with the benefits of wintering, I could sense what was out of balance and easily remedy it. Returning from a glorious vacation is not a major life transition that requires deep healing and processing. So after just two days of quality wintering, I was ready to step out the door, fully embrace the glorious spring, and enjoy getting down and dirty in my garden.

Understanding the Seasons of Change enables one to process with awareness whatever life throws at you. It honors where one presently stands, and centers the self before taking the next step. Nature knows the way, and we need only to observe and learn from its wisdom.

Copyright (c) 2008 Karin Marcus