We hit 61 degrees on Friday ... followed by rain, rain, and more rain. Welcome to Mud Season, the unspoken but clearly visible season that creeps in between winter and spring, somewhere between March and April, and ends up creeping into your home as well no matter how good a job you do of wiping your feet or leaving your shoes at the door. You won't find it on the calendar, especially in warmer climates. Mud Season only occurs in parts of the country that are done with winter snow but not yet ready for spring grass and trees. During this time of indecision on Mother Nature's part ... or whoever she left in charge of the northeast during this time ... the weather does, indeed, warm up, and the snow does, indeed, melt, but the rains move in and hangs around like that unwelcome house guest that doesn't realize when they've overstayed their welcome. What is that old saying about house guests and fish, something like both will smell when they've been there too long? Well, have you ever really smelled mud? It's not likely anything that will ever appear on any one's "Top 5 Things I Love About Nature," list (except maybe those guys that like to go mud racing).
We all have a Mud Season from time to time in our lives. It's those times when we know we're not happy with where we're at but have no idea where we want to go, so we just stay stuck where we are and keep churning our wheels until we just become so stuck that we can't get out. It's not surprising that a lot of this occurs during that changeover from winter to spring. We've just spent three dark, cold, months not terribly motivated to make any changes or try something new when all we want is a warm blanket, a bowl of soup, and getting caught up with Game of Thrones. Or maybe the holidays were so stressful and overloaded that all you can think about is hiding under your pillow until Easter. In any case, making lasting changes aren't going to happen no matter what you vowed on New Year's Day. So when spring does finally get here, we get a bit hyped by the warmer weather and the return of our rational minds from the deep freeze, and that's when we wake up, look around us and ask, "Now what?" And if we don't know, we just sit there hoping that it will come to us in a download of Divine Inspiration ... while we continue to watch Game of Thrones.
Here's the scoop, people: if you want to plant flowers, you have to get up, and get going. Just like we start our flower seeds indoors until the mud dries and the ground can accept them, we can start making positive changes in our lives by planting the seeds of new ideas and new directions, keeping them watered, fed, and in the light, and waiting until the time is right to move them outside and plant our new roots deep. Maybe you need to go back to school, or do some research, or apprentice yourself to someone who's doing what you truly want to do. Maybe you just need a change of scenery, or tribe. Whatever it is, you can't let a little thing like mud hold you back. Even if you have to use both hands to pull yourself out of the muck, it will be so worth it when the mud finally dries and your life blooms.
So get yourself a new pair of boots if you must, but don't let this all too transient season get you down. A lotus flower actually grows out of the mud, did you know that? What can you grow?
And so it is.
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