The Circle of Becoming

Seneca once observed that we are like travelers on a ship; whether we are sitting or walking, we are always moving toward the same destination. We often mistake the changing of the seasons for a series of separate events, as if winter were a death and spring a resurrection, rather than a single, continuous breath. The ancient mind understood that nature does not leap; it unfolds. We cling to the comfort of the present, fearing the inevitable shift in the weather of our own lives, forgetting that the frost and the bloom are merely different expressions of the same underlying reality. To see the cycle as a whole is to lose the anxiety of the transition. If we could view our own existence with the same detached patience, we might find that the end is always contained within the beginning, and the beginning is never truly lost to the end. What remains when the movement finally stops?

Moslem Azimi has captured this unity in the beautiful image titled Seasons Union. By bringing the entire cycle of the year into one view, the work reminds us that all states of being exist simultaneously. Does this perspective change how you feel about the passing of time?