This passing from summer to autumn seems to have fallen from out of nowhere. Although I have always associated the use of the seasonal name of Fall to the falling of the leaves, this year it felt like the season change was like a falling of a door or gate. What is past is behind it. It's time to move forward into the new season.
Many things about our cultures and experiences seem to have passed a point of no turning back. How we look at our food choices and food system. How we interact with our communities. How we deal with the climate crisis. Despite the fact that these issues and experiences are not new, they seem to have passed the point of avoidance. We - as a culture - may have been able to keep them hidden in a closet in the past by ignoring, discounting, or sometimes by openly lying but that time is over.
Like the arrival of autumn this year, the closet door to has opened, closed, and now those challenging realities are sharing the room with us. And, like the season we are in, we must look to the future acknowledging and accepting what is before us: a long winter.
I like to look to nature for guidance when faced with a challenge. To move through a long cold winter we must shore up our resources, draw in our community, and find ways to celebrate the beauty and gifts of the season we are experiencing. Instead of wishing for the warmth of summer, revel in the crisp mornings of autumn and the early setting dark drawing us into our homes. In those homes or community gathering places stop to spend time with your family, community. Look beyond differences to commonalities and interdependencies. Draw close to those near as you might need one another for support, friendship, or as a dance partner. As you change your behavior to reflect the reduction in light, heat, and growth take the time to meditate on how you can work within your community to accept the changes in our world in a way that moves us all into the new cycles, seasons, and nature of our planet.
The sun keeps shining, the planet keeps spinning, there will be a new season. Don't wait for it, reach out and draw it in.
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