OCT NIBJ: Words for a New Season: Wisdom from Women Poets

There is something about September in North Idaho that feels like a reset.

The lake begins to quiet, school is back in session, mornings get cooler and evenings arrive a little earlier. Suddenly summer — with all its wonderful chaos — is behind us. Although in North Idaho, we all know better than to put away either the flip-flops or the snow shovel.

For women especially, September can feel like the beginning of another season in more ways than one.

As I thought about what I wanted to share this month, I found myself turning not to business books, leadership gurus or statistics, but to poetry — specifically, words written by women.

Women have been writing about change, resilience, work, love, family and beginning again for centuries. Perhaps there is something we can learn from them as we enter a new season of our own.

American poet Helen Hunt Jackson wrote a beautiful poem simply titled “September.” After describing the richness of the autumn harvest, she leaves us with this thought: “Mayhap thou canst not ripen without frost!”

What a wonderful reminder.

We spend so much of our lives trying to avoid the frost — the difficult season, the disappointment, the business that didn't work, the relationship that changed, children leaving home, aging parents who suddenly need us, or simply realizing that the life we planned isn't exactly the life we're living.

Yet perhaps some of our greatest growth comes precisely from those seasons.

And we don't have to look far for a woman's poetic voice describing our own changing seasons.

Jennifer Passaro, Coeur d'Alene's first Poet Laureate, beautifully captures our community and its landscape through poetry. In her poem Early October, she describes the season when “the beach is back / quiet.”

If you have ever stood beside Lake Coeur d'Alene in October after the summer crowds have disappeared, you know exactly what she means.

Emily Dickinson wrote: “Our share of night to bear, Our share of morning.”

There are nights and mornings. Endings and beginnings. And most women I know have lived through plenty of all four.

So maybe this fall, instead of resisting change, we celebrate it.

Start the business. Take the class. Call the friend. Mentor a younger woman. Ask for the promotion. Try something new. Leave something behind that no longer serves you.

Women are very good at helping everyone else through their seasons. Perhaps this one can belong to us.

And as NIA–Women of IMPACT moves into its own new season, we're excited about what's ahead. Our Women of IMPACT Leadership Roundtable returns in January, bringing women together for a five-month program of connection, conversation and exploration of issues affecting women in our community and beyond. Registration is available through NIA. We're also looking forward to the return of WOW—Words of Wisdom from Wise Women, with more details coming soon.

So here's to October, to women, to poetry — and even to a little frost.

After all, we may still have some ripening to do.