Stairways, Paths and Embracing Change

This is Lake Michigan in early November.  The landscape has browned and sky and water intermingle between shades of grayed out blue and grayed out gray.  The seasons start out with such gusto in the beginning.  Bright green leaves change to a crimson yellow or a caramel brown eventually into softer more mellowed shades.   It reminds me of change at any level.  We all start out with a lot of energy and hope at the beginning, then somewhere along the road things mellow and we are somewhere comfortable in the middle. 

 

These stairs led me to the water, the rocks and the wind.  They led me to another world below where boulders were beaten and forced to soften pressured by the waves of the water.   What do you end up with?  Something that is still very strong but the hard edges have been softened.

 

As I walked down the path I noticed even the stairs were weathered in a beautiful way.  They serve their purpose and part of "their process" is to be walked on and trampled a bit. That's what they are there for!  There were places along these stairs that half of the stair was gone yet gently creeping up through some of the destruction was a new flower in it's last bloom.  The space made room for something beautiful to spring up.

 

The stairs represent transition – a way of getting from one stage to another.  I (personally) often stumble on stairs.  I’ve even broken my foot falling down stairs and I’ve been known to trip up them as well.  A “stair” can take us from one plane to another.  It’s symbolic – they can bring us higher to our destiny or lower to our destination.  It seems my norm is to stumble when making the transition.     

Currently, I am entering a new phase of my life.  I can identify with the subtle colors of the landscape as it softens and grays.    I connect with the subtlety of the beauty that surrounds me.  At times my path has been smooth sailing and at others it has felt like a constant uphill climb.  I do believe though, we choose our own paths. 

My path is changing  course - something beautiful is about to spring up.