I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life, where the rhythm of seasons isn’t just a change in weather, it is a fundamental truth about how things work. Each year is predictable here: winter drags until it doesn’t, spring shows up eventually, summer arrives right when we need it, and fall eases us back into the cycle. Then we start over. Living here has taught me something essential about growth and happiness: in order to truly appreciate the best days of summer, you must first experience the worst days of winter.

I was recommended the movie Being There (1979) recently. In it a gardener named Chance accidentally becomes an philosopher, offering gardening wisdom that’s mistaken for profound metaphors about the economy and life. His most memorable line strikes me as relevant to those of us who’ve lived through Michigan winters:

In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

The modern world often feels like it’s demanding perpetual summer, endless growth, constant productivity, infinite scaling. But what if, like Chance, we embraced the wisdom of the seasons? What if we accepted that there are times for explosive growth (spring), times for flourishing (summer), times for letting go (fall), and times for rest (winter)?

In the movie everyone misinterprets Chance’s literal gardening advice as metaphorical economic wisdom. But perhaps the real wisdom is in taking his words literally. Perhaps we need to be more like gardens: accepting of our seasons, patient with our growth, and trusting that spring always returns.

Living in Michigan has taught me this truth viscerally. Those bitter February mornings when the temperature drops below zero and the wind whips across your face is not just something to endure. They’re part of the rhythm that makes those perfect June evenings on the porch so sweet. The darkness of December makes the first green buds of April feel like nothing short of a miracle.

Maybe that’s what Chance understood without really understanding. Life isn’t meant to be an endless summer. The cold seasons, whether in nature or in life, aren’t failures or setbacks. They’re essential parts of the cycle. They’re when we rest, reflect, and gather strength for our next blooming.