Everyone likes a happy ending – or a happy beginning. It’s been a week of good news for various friends, and even if the enjoyment of that is as an onlooker, it’s still good. Darker mornings, political parties trying oneupmanship in how much they want to make public sector cuts, need for central heating that bit earlier in the evening, we can all do with a bit of cheer at times like this.
Sometimes, in the midst of waiting for various things to happen in other quarters, life takes a slight turn, and I find my own green shoots – small perhaps, not a ‘green shoots of recovery’ moment, but still worth celebrating. Spending time with family, doing new things with friends, trying new recipes…
For all of my struggling with decrease of daylight at this time of year, somewhere along the line I find that this year’s autumn has a bit more of the mellow, less of the mists of the same time last year. Blogging at that point was an escape, a place to rail a bit at life.  This year, I restart the blog again…and then find I am doing things again, away from writing, and that there is perhaps a better balance.
A friend of mine is also exploring new directions, like me a little at a time. Neither of us necessarily sought out these things, whether hobbies or new approaches, but we’re finding life in them, and turning to find others encouraging us on.  That helps me breathe a bit easier – enjoy what’s in front of me.
Sometimes hope is stronger than we realise. The green shoots may seem thin, but we see them there one day, return to them the next and find them still there. Sometimes they stand out because of the earlier days spent looking at ‘bare ground’, waiting for something to change – but not just because of this.
Much of this experience is tenative, a little fearful still. There is not the big rush of the large celebration, the milestone in life. But it’s still there, still real, a small harvest.