Measuring the Seasons by Light

 

I measure the seasons by the dawn light streaming into my east-facing kitchen each day as the angles of light hits the table in my tiny home. Here in the photo from about a month ago, the light was lined up almost perfectly like stripes on the table. Already though, that has shifted, in the last couple weeks, the light has cut a varied path, grazing the table at a sharper angle from bottom left, to upper right. The season is shifting. 

Spring days were blooming sweet and fine - 
The heavenly wisdom allotted such time - 
To shape hearts of many by love so divine.

It is interesting how subtle shifts in our lives can easily go unnoticed - whether it is a seasonal shift or some other relational shift. We tend to get so trained in our everyday we focus on our schedule or the next thing we need to do, rather than noticing the moment we are in and what might be happening in it. What beautiful mystery might be wrapped up in that moment?

Something I have been working on for years is noticing and appreciating the moment I am in. In our modern distracted world, I have found that it takes a lot of effort to slow down but when I actually do, I realize how deeply my soul needs that. Part of this effort has been made by simplifying my life in myriad ways, from decluttering and organizing, choosing fewer products to buy in general (and not buying cheaply so I don't have to replace the item in one season), and making the simplest moments lovely and special. I might drink coffee or tea in my favourite antique cup and saucer because I want to, and it enhances the experience and causes me to slow down to enjoy it. 

These small things add beautiful moments to my life, but they take a little bit of effort. Is it easier to buy cheaply and throw everything away? Is it faster to make coffee and drink out of a paper cup to toss? Sure. But there is something missing for me (aside from the environmental impact) - the enjoyment aspect. We are meant to enjoy this life we have been given. I want to savor each moment in its own unique way that it is. Each season holds treasures in it that we might gloss over if we move too fast. 

So, measuring the seasons by the light on my kitchen table has been a way of just simply noticing that in the bigger picture, our planet is tilted and as we circle the sun our seasons shift as we get a tiny bit closer or farther away from our star, and that huge solar system movement impacts me here directly in these tiny ways every single morning, by the light shifts. But only if I am willing to notice. This noticing isn't going to change the world, but it just might change my view of it, by appreciating all the wonder-filled moments that are present every day. And that appreciation goes beyond myself and outward to others.