I was talking with a friend this week who is also a solo-preneur.
We often process together the ups and downs of owning a small business, which has been a true balm to my sometimes-isolated heart.
And in this particular conversation, she said that she'd heard once, "If you're not growing, you're dying."
It had been said in the context of business and what it looks like to be a successful business owner.
We talked about how damaging that sort of ideal is, not only to our work, but just to our everyday existence...and, unfortunately, also how common this kind of thinking is.
And even if you're not a business owner, too, I'm wondering if you can relate to this kind of unwanted ideology getting pushed onto you.
Whether it's work, relationships, finances, a healing process, or just day-to-day existence, we are often told to always keep pushing.
To keep moving.
To keep being "productive" in active, ever-changing ways.
Never stand still. Never go inward. Never take a pause.
And this is, once again, where I am reminded what the nature outside of ourselves is always teaching us.
The earth experiences seasons, cycles, stages of growth, death, rebirth.
Sometimes these are phases of active growth.
Sometimes they're moments of staying still.
Sometimes it's harvest time, sometimes it's time to plant.
This wisdom has been with us for as long as we've been here.
And yet, the push for constant growth (hello, capitalism) and constant expansion (hello, colonialism and imperialism) have become so commonplace that sometimes it's hard to even remember that these are created constructs, not just "how it's always been."
But the elements share with us a different story.
The blooming of spring couldn't happen without the quiet stillness of winter.
Seeds not only need to be planted, but they need time to grow beneath the surface before they become what they're meant to become.
Death is an inherent part of the growth process, not something that inhibits growth.
The idea that we must constantly be in an active growth stage, in even our own healing journeys, is absolute bullshit.
It's ok to just rest wherever you are.
It's ok to be content with where you're at and not be pushing for more.
It's ok to take a pause so you can do some inner exploration that maybe won't have any outward "evidence" that it's happening.
We, too, have seasons, cycles, phases.
All of them are important.
All of them are beautiful.
All of them have things to teach us.
Honor whatever season you're in, and remember that every moment of the birth-death-rebirth cycle is valid.
Constant growth is BS