It would be safe to say that we are well and truly in to Autumn.
There is a distinctly non summer-esque chill in the air, accompanied by tons of the wet stuff and a drawing in of our evenings.
No matter how many years I have experienced this, I always hear myself proclaiming in a somewhat surprised tone, ‘Oh, it’s getting dark already’, as if somehow this is a new phenomena.
Anyway, as I reflected on the change of season from my beloved summer in to my not so beloved autumn, I began to look to the parts of this season that I do like. Because, I realise that whilst I have favourite and least favourite seasons, there is usually something that I relish about each.
For this particular season, I have rediscovered the art of making vegetable filled soups. I serve these with homemade soda bread or cheese scones fresh from the oven. Massive yum!
I have also started appreciating relaxing in hot, candle lit, bubble baths again.
With four friends having October birthdays, this means food filled celebrations.
Plus there is the return of the hat. I love a good hat.
And, as I took a brisk walk early on a recent Sunday evening, I was reminded afresh of how invigorating an autumn evening walk can be! It’s all too easy to stop making the effort to get out for walks once the first chill of Autumn descends.
But, during that dusk walk I caught the sun setting over the hills against a silhouette of tree branches. This reminded me once more of how stunning nature is in every season.
As I reflected, I could not help but make the comparison with when we are not in our first choice of season on a personal level. As in, we may stop noticing what it does have to offer, if we’re not willing to look beyond what it doesn’t.
The reality is that there are highs and lows, good and bad in every season of nature or soul.
Like the rest of life, nothing is black and white.
Whilst the trees are stripped of their greenery, certain bushes abound in beautifully coloured berries.
I also see the late blooming clematis, the random poppy and the last few tomatoes.
Similarly, as I look within, I see some things are ending and others beginning.
For it is indeed a new season.
And, I sense a new space emerging.
It would seem that sufficient processing of internal emotions has cleared the way for a new burst of creativity to come forth.
A new space can be such an exciting thing.
Afterall, if we want to create something new, we must first make a space to do so.
We must also resist the temptation to immediately fill the new space merely for the sake of it. A hasty filling could block the new thing that is not yet known but that is attempting to come through.
Thus an ability to sit in the new space alongside any uncertainty is paramount.
Sometimes, the idea of space can cause folk a great deal of anxiety.
As in, if I slow down or even stop and be in my own space, will all the emotions I have been attempting to outrun, catch up with me? To which the answer is yes! But with sufficient understanding and support, this can offer a healing connection and release, thus freeing up the energy and space for new things.
Or, the fear is what on earth to do with an empty space especially if there hasn’t been one for way too long. Almost as if folk fear that the new space will swallow them whole without them being able to find their way out.
But as we look to nature we see through repetition that we do not need to spend the autumn or winter months fretting over the nakedness of the trees as if unsure whether the new leaves of Spring will ever come.
We trust in the seasons of nature.
So too must we trust in our own seasons.
