Has the cold left us? Perhaps there’s just a little more wintery weather ahead and we can manage that because we know there is an end. This one was particularly unpleasant. However, through my office window I can already see the crocuses poking above the mat of maple leaves. As they herald a whole new growing season, I imagine my friends and neighbors in their gardens, equipped with gloves and plans to bring about the Spring.
These are tumultuous days. Prices keep rising. Iconic stores are closing. The “tariff wars” as warned by others will have long-lasting effects on more than just our bank balances. Rights fought for by our mothers, grand-mothers and beyond are being eroded.
Perhaps because of the sort of work I do, I’ve become more attuned to cycles and admit to gravitating towards theories that confirm my bias. Most influential for me are the works of Neil Howe and William Strauss. From the late 1500’s to the present, the Strauss-Howe generational theory posits that every 80 years or so, society moves through four cycles just as consistently as we have our four seasons. Howe calls these cycles “turnings” and they happen in this order: High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis. The first of several books by these authors is “Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069” (1991).
The season of Crisis, the period we are in now, is also called the Fourth Turning. You can find much about this online. Here is a link to Goodreads. From the author: “Over the course of this book, I hope to persuade you of a more ancient yet also more optimistic doctrine: that our collective social life, as with so many rhythmic systems in nature, requires seasons of sudden change and radical uncertainty in order for us to thrive over time. Or, to paraphrase Blaise Pascal: History has reasons that reason knows nothing of.”
There’s a lot of optimism in that quote. After winter, after the crisis cycle, there is a High Period. And having studied the history presented by these authors, the High Periods, like Spring, are a time of rebirth and community focus.
It’s time to put on our gardening gloves, my friends, and keep doing what we can in our own backyards to bring about the Spring. Read about the women speaking out elsewhere in this newsletter and keep an eye on our provincial, national and international counterparts. Much great work is being done. Also, be sure to have your say! Check CFUW National’s Election Toolkit 2025 for key issues and tips for individuals and clubs.
https://www.cfuw.org/Federal+Election+Toolkit_2025/