I have always loved March 1st. No matter how dreary the winter months, I begin to notice the days getting longer, the sun shining brighter and the promise of spring time rides on the wings of the wind.
I know that in just a few weeks, we’ll celebrate the chronological passing away of Old Man Winter and usher in the season that is filled with new life and growth. It’s an exciting time for me and today is the day that sets all that in motion in my mind and heart.
As a writer, you go through seasons as well. Each has blessings—and challenges—of its own. You may be going through a blustery time that seemingly will never end. It’s cold, dark and dreary. Emotional and career gray skies cast a monotonous hue over your life, your manuscript and your journey as a writer.
But, just as assuredly as today marks the turning of the tides of winter, so it sets in motion a whole new season for you as an author. Granted, you don’t go to bed one night with feet of snow outside and wake up to green grass and flowers, particularly if you live in the frozen tundra of the north.
The changes are far more subtle. Like the stirring of the insects below the surface or the restlessness of the geese who’ve come to winter in your lake. Or the tiny creep of the mercury upward one tiny hash mark at a time or the silent reappearance of a weed. Winter and spring will dance together for a while, alternating who leads. They gently tug each other, wooing it to their side of the dance. Eventually, springtime will win out. It always does.
Always.
I never tire of watching the miraculous passing of one season to the other, in the atmosphere, and in the lives of writers. Your seasons as an author will come…and they will go. It’s only natural.
Please don’t make the miss the miracle of the changing of your seasons by getting yourself stuck in a season you don’t particularly care for. No matter how cold was—and still is—embrace today. If you’re still bundled up in front of the fireplace, you may not run outside in bikini but embrace that change is in motion.
When a farmer plants crops, for seemingly endless days afterwards, all he sees is rows of dirt. Nothing more. It’s like nothing is happening at all. Then one night he goes to bed. When he wakes up the next morning and looks out, he sees green. It was like it changed overnight. But he knows it was changing all the time.
You know that about the seasons in your writing journey as well. Whether you see it or not, it’s changing. Embrace it. Look expectantly for it. If you don’t see it immediately, wait for it. It will show up. I promise.
Welcome to March. March on, authors. March on!