Moving Through our Seasons of Change and Growth - September 2026

“How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change.

And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be,”

Elizabeth Lesser

Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow  

            Throughout life, from infancy through elderhood, we face change and transitions as we grow and develop. During childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, the morning of our lives, we become more independent. We begin to establish our place in the world – our identity, roles, priorities, values, and responsibilities in family or community life, schooling, work, relationships, and life experiences. During middle age, the noontime of our lives, we continue to grow and develop. We face endings and beginnings, gains and losses, shifts in priorities, and perhaps shifts in interpersonal relationships and our capacity for intimacy (with ourselves and others).

Models of adult growth and development during elderhood began to change with recognition that transitions and change continue way beyond middle age. Elderhood has now been observed as a time of ripening, letting go, endings, and new beginnings. Like Odysseus’ journey in the Iliad, during elderhood we meet challenges, suffering, and unanticipated changes. Past experiences, role models, and conditioning often do not prepare us for these times of change. In elderhood, it is through the process of letting go and opening to new beginnings that we meet opportunities to shift our awareness and presence, bringing greater harmony and balance into daily life.

Elderhood can be filled with mixed feelings of excitement and fear. Deepak Chopra states, “If you try to get rid of fear and anger without knowing their meaning, they will grow stronger and return.” New growth in elderhood takes root and blossoms as we update and release what no longer serves us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We witness this letting go in nature, in gardens and fields, during times of seasonal change. We can liken the process of releasing and letting go of what no longer serves us to becoming an astronaut, as we explore inner versus outer space during self-care practices. It is on this journey that we discover how self-care with self-compassion grounds and strengthens self-love, which is at the heart of all healing. Perhaps to our surprise, we discover new vistas and experiences, never dreamed possible before.

From Rumi, the Sufi poet: Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. I look forward to sharing self-care as self-love practices through upcoming online and live programs, as we live with endings, liminal times, and new beginnings filled with Light and love.

Regina