"My Dream Of Spring"

After over a year of not posting anything I feel like im in the correct frame of mind to do so. This post is not about any particular person or event but its about my perception on, well, life and the never ending battle in our own hearts. This is inspired largely by the book series "A Song Of Ice And Fire", as you can tell by the title taken from the pending 7th book of A Song Of Ice And Fire called "A Dream Of Spring".

I perceive life as a never ending cycle of seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. I have come to believe, via my favorite authors(Rowling, Tolkien and Martin) that each person passes through their "own" various seasons. I will now dissect each season and shed light on what I perceive each season represents to the individual.

Autumn

I have decided to begin with autumn and work my way through the seasons as I go along, thus allowing you(and me) to "Dream Of Spring". The russet and gold leaves fall to the ground leaving a colorful carpet on the sidewalks, driveways and gutters(not fun when you're the one  who has to dig them out). The branches become bare, shedding off their summer cloaks to reveal barren barks and crooked branches. The birds flee north(or south) depending on how you look at it and the scarves and coats come out.

To the individual, Autumn represents heartbreak, disappointment and a "shedding of the unnecessary" as Ms Rowling puts it. Its a very sad period for the individual as this means giving up something that one once had or has without any real certainty as to whether it will come again. Letting go of anything that you hold dear is heart-wrenching, but as we shed our leaves and bear our barren barks and crooked branches we should "gird our hearts and "Dream Of Spring"

Winter

"Winter Is coming" are the words of House Stark, a family who live in the North Of Westeros in the books in A Song Of Ice and Fire and these few words represent a looming doom and a warning to prepare oneself for a difficult time ahead.

Winter is characterized by snow and ice, a destruction of crops, the death of livestock, blizzards, frost bite and death from the cold, well in the northern hemisphere at least. Here in the southern hemisphere, particularly the Highveld of South Africa, we have become accustomed to cloudless days with temperatures that drop drastically at night. We also have to endure cold fronts which come from the west (Cape town) and drift toward the East toward the Highveld, these cold fronts are too spontaneous for my liking!

To the individual Winter represents a state of helplessness, doom, melancholy and doom. This period cannot be underestimated as the individual losses hope and questions everything around  them. I think im experiencing winter at the moment, for various reasons which I will leave untouched. The Winds Of Winter cut deep at times leaving us cold to the world and bitter to the core! The only thing we can do during Winter is to "gird our hearts and Dream Of Spring".

Spring

 "We must all endure winter but what strengthens us is the dream of an eternal Spring". Spring is characterized by the rains, flowers blossoming, fruits in bloom , the birth of life, the returning of the swallows to their summer homes, the end of hibernation for the bears and the beginning of pollination for the flowers.
To the individual Spring represents a new beginning, a hopefulness which can only be described as elation. In this season a person feels almost as if they are seeing the world for the first time and that the veil of winter has been lifted off their face. I can compare a persons spring to the birth of a child, finding love or making a breakthrough in ones career. Spring to me; is the closest thing to Utopia.

Summer

In a Song Of Ice And Fire; Brandon Stark names his Direwolf(whom he has a supernatural connection to) "Summer". I think that his(the Direwolfs) name is more than significant as in my opinion this creature represents a sense of calm and protection and provides Bran as well as the reader of the books a sense that everything is going to be okay as long as Summer is around.

Summer is a season of consistently warm temperatures and thus for me both the season and the direwolf are one entity, that sense of tranquility and peace make it so. To the individual Summer is a prolonged period of happiness and consistent grow.

During the Summer the Sun is up more often than not and there is beauty in the air that is almost palpable. Summer is Joy.

The Seasons

"Seasons come and go but you...you last a lifetime" this is an adaptation of the line in the lyrics of Emeli Sande's song "Lifetime". I believe that if we can prepare with a sense of understanding of each"season" we can endure even the harshest of winters and emerge tall and proud like a young tree on a windless night. Thus I say "gird you hearts and Dream Of An Eternal Spring".

T.B