By Eve Bell

This year has been full ofchange for me. After 14 years of running Baba+Boo, I closed the doors to a community that meant so much to me. It would have been our 15th birthday next week and I still desperately miss the connection we shared. The laughter, the stories, the feeling of being part of something greater than myself.

At the same time, I’ve been adjusting to another big change. Watching my son finish school and step into the world of college. I can still feel his little hand in mine as we walked to school. And his big bear hugs as he ran out of class. He is so intuitive and just knows when my emotions are riding high. The night before he started college, he sat next to me on the sofa. I had tears rolling down my face as a mini-movie of his life ran in front of my eyes. His first steps seemed like only yesterday and here he was taking his first steps to adulthood. Bittersweet. Like the disgusting medicine you had as a kid, didn’t feel good at the time but made everything better.

Shedding

Life often mirrors the natural world. Because we are nature, not separate from it. Just like the memes you see at this time of year about trees teaching us to let go. They stand tall and proud, shedding their leaves to make way for new growth.

I’m really interested in permaculture. It is a design system that mimics nature. It can be applied to gardens and life. One of the principles is to value the edges and use the margins. Like hedgerows where two ecosystems meet. This is where most life and growth happen. These edges are full of diversity and full of opportunity. This thought came while I was trying to pull my crazy dog through a hedgerow. He was trying to chase a rabbit through said hedgerow.

Transitions in life are just like those edges. When we leave something behind or move into a new season of life, it can feel uncomfortable. Even lonely. But it’s in these moments, when we’re standing in the in-between, that we there is the most potential for growth. I remember feeling a pang of sadness each time my children moved into a new vest size. Or when they lost a tooth. It felt like a loss. Just me? I’ve come to understand that it was simply growth for both of us. Both as a mum and as a child.

Change

So, as I navigate this season of change, I’m trying to embrace it. Lean into these edges. Life feels different, but that’s where the beauty of growth lies.

There is comfort in knowing where the edges are. It’s where we often discover the most life, both in nature and within ourselves. Transitions are a natural part of life, and embracing them can lead to profound growth. As we lean into the discomfort, we open ourselves to new opportunities and deeper connections.

Have you experienced a change in life that felt challenging at first? What opportunities did it eventually bring?