Lessons from Mud Season
Learning to Move from Comparison to Acceptance
It’s mud season here in Vermont, and it can be a tough time for me. As some of you know, I lived in Washington, D.C. for ten years. I have fond memories of March, when I’d had enough of winter, and spring swiftly came in with a warm breeze, bursting with beautiful tulips everywhere. It’s magical. Not so in northern New England- we just got slammed with two snowstorms this month, mixed in with raw rainy days and muddy roads with gravel-covered snow piles lasting into May. It was the hardest aspect of moving to Vermont for me. I realized I had to shift my thinking.
It is said that comparison is the root of all suffering, so if I keep comparing Vermont spring to that of Washington, it’s going to be painful. So I took a deep dive into the lessons that mud season has to offer, and I am cultivating the patience to enjoy the season without rushing it. For example, one of the greatest benefits of those forty-degree temperatures that drop down below freezing is that this is the necessary recipe for a great sugaring season. It’s the time of year we visit our friend’s sugar house and can taste still-warm maple syrup after it’s been boiled down from sap. I now think of our extended early spring as good for the farmers, and can appreciate and take comfort knowing that there is life flowing through the trees just underneath the bark that we can’t see. Spring has come in its subtle ways. Am I present to see the signs?
What Mud Season Can Teach Us
This quarter, I want to share a distinction with you in a different way. I recently gave a keynote address to a statewide organization titled “What Mud Season Can Teach Us About Living in Community and Organizations.” I’ve created a short promotional video from it and offer it here. In this clip you’ll see two lessons I’ve learned from mud season. It’s a bit of a risk to share it so widely, and I feel a bit vulnerable, but it’s also a way to share my thoughts. If you know of any organizations, companies, or events that might be looking for a keynote speaker to share some hopefully insightful and entertaining thoughts about Vermont mud as it relates to life, I’d welcome the introduction. Thank you! And cheers to mud season!
Moving from Theory to Action
While it may not sound serious enough for a leadership topic, everyone has opinions about the weather (think about how much time at work is spent talking about it!). To support you in cultivating acceptance and patience for whatever weather you may get, here are some reflection questions:
To what extent do I notice myself complaining about whatever weather there may be (if it’s winter it’s too cold, if it’s summer, it’s too hot). What would it be like if I didn’t judge the weather?
What is uniquely possible only in this weather that I can be grateful for? (I love the feeling of hiking in early spring when the air is warm on my face, but there is cool air coming from the snow beneath my feet).
In which season do I have the hardest time being present and accepting? What is a mindset shift I can offer that might support me? What are some actions I can take to learn to appreciate this season more? (For example, I think about the farmers in early spring, and I wear a light green fleece hat in March to symbolize spring!).
Great Link
This is one of my favorite songs of all times, Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent. It reminds me to appreciate the moments of life in the present, cultivating love, rather than focusing on things that don’t matter.
Quarterly Quote
“As a child you loved playing in the mud,
so don't worry if your feet get a bit dirty
on your journey through life.” - Joris Vincken
Book Review
Pioneer Species
Ross Thurber
“Let winter sink into a soft spring night.
May valley fog rise to the foothills
and the foothills be buried in a purple cloak.”
-Excerpt from the poem, “Bell Foundry “
A book of poetry isn’t my typical book recommendation on leadership, but with the theme of nature, mud season, and Vermont, I wanted to offer this book as an opportunity to access a different way of learning through the beauty of words, slowly sipped. Ross is a dairy farmer and dear friend of mine, and this collection of his poetry takes you through the seasons as he lives them on his farm in southern Vermont. I don’t read a lot of poetry, but I find his poems to be thought-provoking but not too obscure. Just like mud season, there are jewels and lessons to be learned through poetry if we can take the time to let the words unfold in their time.