Goodbye to Summer, Hello to Fall 🍂
Mercy and Grace in a Season of Change
“Autumn is my season, dear. It is, after all, the season of the soul.” — Virginia Woolf
Happy Autumn! Welcome to Fall. I’m very happy the season has arrived. It’s nothing against summer, especially since I am a summer baby, born the end of June, so the summer holds a special and most appreciated magic for me. William Carlos Williams wrote, “In summer, the song sings itself,” and I feel like this is true. It’s a sort of energy that’s always ‘on,’ that we ride along with without trying to, that sometimes is a bit too much for us - expected to dance and sing and be bright like the sun because summer itself is celebrating and so we should be also. It’s a time of lightness and ease - “Summertime and the livin’ is easy,” even if it takes pretending at times.
When I was much younger, I despised the arrival of Autumn and the anxiety it brought. Reminder of school beginning again, of quiet introspection stalking down upon us. I was a young person who felt and held the intensity of feelings like a sponge, bottled up and secretive, unable to understand or comprehend, and without the channels or desire to share these confusions with any living soul. Thank goodness for the arrival of mediums - writing and music - creative channels to release, express, process, and make meaning from these emotions and thoughts. I am sure that pens, pencils, paper, piano keys, computer keys, stereo speakers Et al, helped and guided more than just about anything else. I often say that I can’t imagine experiencing life in those years without those tools-of-balance. I’m deeply thankful that I didn’t have to and never yet have had to since.
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me / Fluttering from the autumn tree.” — Emily Brontë
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
As we grow and evolve, things change along with us, and my relationship to the Fall is now one of immense welcoming. It’s the ‘cool’ arrival of slowness - of the quiet, space, and time needed for reflection and study. Remembrance of past and preparation for future. There’s a crisp in the air, Fall is here.
Nature’s organization and energy during Autumn is highly symbolic, as we prepare our systems for our deepest season of inward contemplation and outward creation. The air starts to cool down, encouraging us to protect ourselves. The leaves turn to brown and start to fall from the sky like tired wishes. Squirrels and bumblebees and all the hibernators of our hemisphere know to gather rations at the first signs of cold.
Though we do not hibernate, we do have our own version as we prepare for the months ahead - imagining how we might spend them, what we might do. We know it’s time to put summer gear away, uncrate the sweaters and coats, the hats and scarves, the protective layers. We ponder how we might stay, where we might go, what we might work on. New thoughts and needs emerge as the routine of a changing season invites us to pay different attention to ourselves. Maybe we will hunker down and work on a new project, revisit an unfinished one. Maybe focus on a single skill, pledging to evolve into devotion, prioritizing the hours needed to advance our levels higher. Maybe we give ourselves time to watch a show we haven’t been able to see. Maybe we need to care for our health more than we have been.
The Autumnal Equinox took place on Sunday, September 22 at 8:43am EST
“Autumn is a season of harvest, a time to reap the rewards of our hard work and reflect on the blessings in our lives. The Fall Equinox is a reminder for us to assess our accomplishments instead of our shortcomings.”
It’s also a time to remember what we’ve accomplished. Where our successes and victories have gone unrecognized and deserve a little attention. To pause and take stock. To find things in ourselves to be proud of. To acknowledge those things in each other, too. To access our gratitude. To feel genuinely thankful for it all.
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.” — Maya Angelou
If we are in the mood, there are also the celebratory activities of autumnal splendor. Outdoors ones like apple orchards, foliage trips, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, fall festivals, bonfires, and farm visits. Walking through the park with a hot beverage in hand. Evening walks with a jacket and scarf. And the indoor rituals: Blankets and tea, fireplaces and books that we love. Slippers and coziness, writing and reading. Apple cider donuts. Pumpkin pie.
What are your favorite autumnal activities?
When I was little, I loved jumping into piles of leaves. When was the last time you did that?
“…the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
― Sylvia Plath
There are two shifts that take place in this moment between the warm seasons and the cooler ones. A simultaneous feeling of something (Summer) being suddenly over, and something else (Autumn) softly beginning, creeping in. While Spring is a time most associated with Rebirth, right now is a time most associated with Change. Though because Change (as we looked at before), is more vague and open ended in its definition, I think this moment is really more kindred to a quiet and necessary death, like a caterpillar readying its cocoon.
These concurrent states (ending/beginning, hot/cold, etc.) can feel a bit jarring, especially depending on the factors of our day to day schedules. Though whether or not we are actually ‘back to school',’ or ‘back to work,’ by nature we can access and admit to this intensity of sensation at some level. So instead of denying or fighting it with fear, if we try our best to accept, welcome, and lean into it all, we can hold the reigns, collect our power, take stock, make action plans, and rejoice calmly in our progress and process.
So here are my two questions for these first days of Autumn:
What is unfinished from Summer that you would like to complete, bring closure to, and/or continue/bring forward as we transition into the colder months?
What do you want to focus on first for Autumn? Is there something you’ve already started and would like to give your attention to more deeply? And/or is there something completely new that you’re ready to begin with?
The answers to these question guides can be anything that comes up - anything you are thinking about, wanting to do, needing to do, anything that feels natural and important, such as:
-Self Care: Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Social, Environmental
Exercise, sleep, nutrition changes, lifestyle changes
Studying, learning, mental health care, therapeutic practices
Heart work, healing, therapy, therapeutic practices, doing things that we love
Anything that feels spiritually fulfilling/meaningful/helps to feel connected with the world/universe and with the self
Seeing more friends, seeing less people, ending a relationship or friendship, nurturing a relationship or friendship, any changes to social life that feel healthier and helpful
Change of scenery, change of home, cleaning, re-arranging, releasing clutter, decorating, making the home more cozy and safe feeling
Any changes or shifts to routine(s)
-Work: Any changes that need to be made, items to address, tasks to complete, new things to do
-Career: If different from work
-Creativity: Whether work/career related or personal practice
-Completing older projects/Starting new projects
-Developing previous skills or Acquiring new skills: for personal hobby and enjoyment, for work/career, etc.
These are some ideas to think about as we move away from Summer and into the Fall. If you like, spend some time reflecting, thinking, journaling, talking about these things. And if you are interested, please share in the comments your answers or any questions for the community. It’s nice when we can share these important things with each other, and help to keep each other on track. And if any of the quotes or thoughts or other questions stood out to you, please share any and all thoughts there, too. As always, everything is welcome. :)
Let’s be kind to ourselves in this moment of change, and let’s also be patient with one another as we find our footing in the navigation of a new season ahead.
Thank you so much and looking forward to reading anything you would like to share. <3
“Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn--that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness--that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.”
― Jane Austen
I really hope you had a great Summer, and once again, Welcome to Fall! <3
"I was a young person who felt and held the intensity of feelings like a sponge, bottled up and secretive, unable to understand or comprehend, and without the channels or desire to share these confusions with any living soul. " Oh...yes...how I relate....
"Thank goodness for the arrival of mediums - writing and music - creative channels to release, express, process, and make meaning from these emotions and thoughts." I'm always a bit torn when Autumn arrives, saying ‘goodbye’ to summer is sad. However, the older I get I seem to embrace it (Autumn) more. I find that I have more time to be creative. At least that’s the goal!