As Summer bids goodbye, Autumn makes its grand entrance. Colours turn to brilliant golds, reds, browns and orange. Growth is now turning from outward to inward in an attempt to prepare for the winter months ahead. Winter slumber will be soon enough – but for now, celebrate the harvest, thanksgiving and dancing leaves!
The Harvest is a time to reap what we’ve sown. This is both in a literal and metaphorical sense. It is easy to see what our labours have manifested in and from the gardens. Folks created beautiful landscapes, food and flower gardens and grew herbs for medicine and cooking purposes during the summer. Now, these plants are harvested to create delicious jams, jellies, soups, relish, pickles and other edibles to enjoy all winter long. Herbs have been collected and processed into dried or frozen staples for cooking while others have been blended up to create healing balms, creams and oils. Let’s not forget the artists and crafters! All sorts of plants used for flower arrangements, pictures, potpourri, and cards to be kept or given away at the right time. Creativity knows no bounds when Nature offers up its gifts for us to use.
Yet metaphorically, what have we Harvested? Those long summer days offered us more time to relax, review and reboot ourselves. It offered a chance to hear our inner voice. In that space of “just being”, what did we learn? What did we dream? What did we promise ourselves to pursue? What did we promise ourselves to change?
The Summer offered us time to take a Personal Inventory of our hopes, dreams, demons and new ideas. With that having been done, Autumn is offering us the opportunity to Harvest this information and put things in motion – to bring what is best for us to fruition. Most of us grew up starting school in September – and the excitement of a new school year was upon us. The world of new ideas and activities was about to be birthed, as it had each September beforehand. September sets the stage for us to get down to business again – learning, organizing, and prioritizing. October says, “So what are you waiting for? Get on with it!” It’s somehow in our DNA!
Autumn offers us an opportunity to reflect upon being grateful for the Harvest. Gratitude is an attitude and energy pattern that attracts more goodness. It’s not just gratitude for the big things in life, although that is important. Being grateful for everyday things means seeing the beauty and appreciating how little things impact our daily health and happiness. That perfect cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate; the delicate rosebud about to open; birds splashing in the birdbath; giggles from a child; the hug from a loved one; walking the beach with our dog. Gratitude for the summer’s Personal Inventory and its insights and information which will make our life better now that we know. And now that we know, we will take action. Saying “Thank-you” is an acknowledgement of our appreciation which is a way of demonstrating an attitude of gratitude. Thanks and Thanksgiving – an Autumnal reminder.
“It is easy to be caught up in feeling a chronic sense of lack, encouraged by a culture that says you never have enough and are never good enough. … But you may have noticed, seeing your glass half-empty all the time makes for a miserable life. Always looking to the future means you aren’t really present in the life you have right now. By meditating on Gratitude on a daily basis, you will reduce your dissatisfaction and increase your contentment with the life you have. Happiness, you will discover, is ultimately a state of mind.” (taken from The Meditation Bible by Madonna Gauding, p.94)
May you find your Autumn Gifts.