For Everything There Is A Season
We find ourselves in the lull between Christmas and New Year and hopefully you are off and spending it with family, friends or taking time out to walk or finish off that box of chocolates with a good movie.
Whilst I dig out another brightly coloured chocolate, Rachel Burnham takes over the #AdventBlogs for her take on the festive season. Rachel is a joy and someone I have known for many years when we worked together as part of the CIPD Manchester Branch team. I see her regularly as part of #LnDCoWork in Manchester and love to see her Sketchnotes. You connect with Rachel via Linked In - www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-burnham-73b76114 Blue Sky - @burnhamlandd.bsky.social or access her Sketchnotes on Pinterest - Rachel Burnham (BurnhamLandD) - Profile | Pinterest Over to Rachel.
I love eating seasonally – eating the fruits and vegetables that are locally available, fresh and in season. It means I skip eating strawberries in December, but go to town on them in June. I hold back from leeks and celery til November, but then eat my fill through to the spring. Eating seasonally means that you never get bored, as there is always something to look forward to – in the spring asparagus, new potatoes, watercress, rhubarb and cherries. In the late summer, runner beans, sweetcorn, courgettes and home-grown tomatoes. Each season has its delights.
Right now I am looking forward to Brussel sprouts, parsnips and clemantines. I come from a family that adores Brussel sprouts – my Dad insists on having charge of the Brussel sprout cooking and they are delicious – they are a treat made even more special by being available only for a short time. As a vegetarian of nearly 50 years, fruit and vegetables are a key part of my diet, so this means that there are lots of dishes that I only cook when it is the season for those particular ingredients.
This year I have entered a new season of my working life. At the end of March after 25 years of working full-time as an L&D consultant, I reduced my working hours substantially. I have begun tapering off to retirement. I am not there yet and have done some interesting & challenging work projects over the year and have more planned for 2026. I have been exploring and finding my feet in organizing my work week in a different way – it definitely felt like feeling my way through fog in the spring, before I found my new rhythm.
About the same time, my adult son left home and I started to spend more time supporting my parents. My season is changing from ‘parent’ to ‘caring for parents’ with different challenges and joys.
We all have seasons in our lives. Periods that are intensely demanding yet exciting – the birth and care of a child; a new job; moving to a new place or a new home. Times that are filled with anxiety and stress from a demanding work life, caring responsibilities or personal ill-health. And times of grief and loss at the end of a relationship, closing of a business or death of someone close to you. And sometimes, all of this at once.
There are seasons we look forward to with eager longing and anticipation. Some periods of our lives seem fleeting and are gone before we know it. Whilst others are exhausting, overwhelming and drag on relentlessly but even these come to an end. Within each season there can be memorable moments, sunshine along with the showers and warmth and laughter even in the saddest or most challenging of times.
Every season comes to a close. A new season begins. Life renews.
Festive sketchnote drawing by Rachel Burnham