Autumn Creeps…
For me It’s like a deep inhale.
After the neediness of the long days of summer, with their stark bright sunshine skies and the business of insects buzzing and new growth growing…
Autumn creeps in quietly..
The days become still.
Breathless.
Like that moment of hesitation at the top of a slide, just before you let go and whoosh into winter.
The silence so complete, broken only by the occasional crisp flutter of a leaf deciding that now is the time to depart its summer residence and return once more to the earth..
or the muffled thud of an apple hitting the ground. The smell of rotting fruit intoxicating in the air, enticing to the life that relishes its decay.
Autumn is both the inhale and exhale.
The inhale before winter, yes, but also the exhale of release.
A sigh.
A time to reflect on the year so far, achievements achieved and lessons learnt, the never agains and the can’t wait til next times ..
A letting go.
I sit in the woods, feet bare on the cool damp moss and listen.
Feel.
With gratitude I acknowledge the shift. The withdrawing happening all around me.
The death of one version of life.
Literal and visceral in the scent of rotting wood, leaf mulch and the fungi emerging from the forest floor and tree trunks all around.
Rest now.
Daily life continues…
The doing things still need to be done..
Of course.
But below that…
Can you feel it?
Below that is an understanding that, for me, results in a kindness.
A heightened patience with myself.
A moment where the ‘shoulds’ become ‘coulds’ and the ‘oughts’ are replaced with ‘no, I’m fine right here thank yous’.
A gift of little wins dotted in my day. A slower start or an earlier finish, a warm blanket round a fire or a longer tea break in the low golden sunshine.
Even the sun has a quiet quality about her. A softness.
Like she too is surrendering to the autumnal shift. She too is saying, ‘that’s enough, now it’s time to withdraw and rest’.
A remembering that it is all too easy to get lost in the noise that, in our modern world, screams relentlessly at us to do more.
Don’t miss out, don’t waste your life, grab every moment.. find adventure, LIVE FURIOUSLY….with passion. Find your ‘thing’, be better, work out, do MORE… MORE … MORE..
At least that’s how it feels to me.
I am always reminded of the old Tampax ads where rather than curling up on the sofa with a hot water bottle and a blanket to nurture and breath into my period … they want me to what? Skydive?? Rollerblade?? Party??
Not allow myself to be unproductive for even a moment.
As I sit on my mossy forest floor, listening to the sounds of autumn all around me, I take a deep, energising breath and remind myself of the ancient knowledge that resides in our hearts.
We already know.
Shut out the noise and remember.
While the television yells and the work commitments shout … there’s a silence growing in the woods. A shift.
A cycle which continues on no matter what the news is saying or the latest fad is fadding. It cares nothing for our human made concerns.
It is time to retreat, withdraw and get ready for winter.
Allow yourself.
Find the glimmers.
Be kind.
Be unproductive.
