One of the most interesting things about having spent the past 12 years in California is that we didn’t have seasons. As I sit in my cosy little basement sipping hot tea while curled up in a blanket, I am just more aware of the shift in season. Interestingly enough, I grew up in Minnesota – the land of the freeze, the home of the brave. I can be tough as nails when I need to be, but I think so much time in the California sun has weakened my outer coat. Perhaps that explain the extra 10 pounds I’ve gained since living in Nashville? Probably not (more likely all the pulled pork).
The shift in seasons are largely symbolic to me this year. One year ago today, I wasn’t even considering moving to Nashville (well, seriously anyway). Each season of the past year has brought tears, pain, growth, and joy. It has been quite a year. There has been a lot of change: leaving a job, leaving my music students, leaving my friends, recording an album, driving across the county, starting grad school, entering my first relationship, re-building my music teaching practice, learning to co-write, meeting with publishers, the fizzle of my first relationship, making new soul friends, learning to communicate with long distance soul friends. I am very close with my parents and over Thanksgiving we were talking about just how completely different my life is this year from last year.
As the season shifts into winter, I take pause to acknowledge the wonderful things that have happened this past fall as well as the not so wonderful things. I look forward to jump at the opportunities that winter offers.
