Last year, my mom came to visit me in Atlanta, Georgia, where I had moved from my hometown of Sacramento, California, a few months prior. We were walking around in the historic Sweet Auburn District when I came across street art that read, “This too shall pass.” I stopped my mom and asked her to take some pictures of me in front of it, (and of course she made me get some great shots of her too).  

Little did she know, this was a phrase I felt like God had been whispering to me over the past couple of months as I had journeyed through many changes. 

This phrase had become somewhat of a personal mantra, with the overarching knowledge of how life operates in seasons. As a multi-passionate and ambitious Black woman, I have already lived many seasons in my 35 and a half years of life. But the current season I’m in is a special one. It really began at the end of 2020, when I made a decision to take an indefinite break from my career as a Child Welfare Social Worker. After about six years in, the burnout was real, so I ended that season to focus on rest, recovery, and exploration. From January to June 2021, I traveled to the motherland. Although I visited three countries (Tanzania, Kenya, and Senegal), I spent most of my African “Eat, Pray, Love” journey in a small beach town in Kenya called Diani. My time there was extremely memorable and impactful, but that’s a another story for a different time. 

I returned to the U.S. in June 2021 and began to embark on a journey of identifying my next season in life. I eventually landed a job in the travel industry, moving to Atlanta, GA in February 2022. During my time in Atlanta, I have made new friends, fallen in love, learned new skills, and explored entrepreneurship. I have also experienced loneliness, depression, and feelings of self-doubt. You know, duality. 

However, seeing those words written on a wall in a neighborhood that holds so much history for the African-American community reminded me of the main feature of seasons—they change. As such, I always try to keep a few things at the forefront when navigating them: 

1. Embrace your season. We all tend to love milder seasons like spring and fall, wanting them to extend (I know I do) and want to rush through more harsh seasons like summer—heat, humidity, and bugs? I’ll pass—and winter (the wind chill in Chicago? No, thank you). But no matter what we do, they are going to be there. That’s just the way it is. Make a conscious effort to identify, examine, and accept whatever season you’re in. Then, adjust. If you don’t have the wherewithal for all that, just be. You will be okay. 
2. Practic gratitude in all seasons. Gratitude is truly the catalyst for joy and wellbeing. On the hardest of days, it helps to dig through all the muck in your heart and mind to find something that is good, no matter how simple it may be. On the best of days, it helps you to be present and make that person, place, or thing that you are acknowledging feel that much more special. 
3.  “This too shall pass” is often a phrase associated with difficult seasons of life. But it applies to the good ones too! This makes it important to celebrate the good seasons in your life and take advantage of feeling, looking, and doing your best. As the Good Book says, there is a time for everything. Now is your time! And if it’s not your time, know that it’s coming up because seasons change. 

Although everything in my life is not how I want it to be (will it ever be, though?), I am grateful for the life that I have lived—a life of seasons full of rich experiences, loving people, and a powerful sense of vision and purpose. I am happy to be in a season where I am choosing to make use of what I have already been provided with, as I know it will set me up for success in the seasons to come.