Ah, Fall! As a hearty Minnesotan it is most definitely my favorite time of the year. I think I say that every season…
I love Fall, the crisp leaves on the ground, still warm sunny days with way less humidity lets 80 feel like 70. It is harvest season here at the farm, the garden is exploding, our Gramma apple tree is getting tired and dropping apples which the deer come and eat, more of them we will harvest and make into apple butter and cider. I love our time with friends and trips into the woods and all things pumpkin and apple!
Fall begs us to get one last every thing (campfire, boat ride, bike ride, motorcycling, you know your summertime favs) in the books before the snow flies. There are fall festivals and community gatherings, fireside dinners (our house), camping, hiking, gathering with others.
It is fantastic and just what we need as we are preparing to hunker down for “what comes next.” I laugh, it’s like Harry Potter and “the name that shall not be spoken.”
Fall is our season of gathering, and it is delightful and abundant!
And, at the exact same time, Fall is our season of heading into the dark. With equinox comes the balance of light and dark as we get our affairs in order before the snow flies. We are called to the campfires for warmth and illumination, not just for smore-making. We don our flannels and jeans as a physical testament of our knowing that we are being called inside.
This season of darkness calls us to go inside, not just our homes, but more over, our inner beings. This season asks us to pay closer attention to our thoughts, our feelings and our perspectives as the world around us seems particularly loud these days.
Dig in. The dark holds us and gives us time to journal, to contemplate, to be together in silence and slow down a bit so that we can really see and hear one another.
There are incredible gifts in this darkness. It is our season to review; what have you focused on, what is your heart and Spirit asking for, what have you done that has had meaning for you this year? These are the questions for this season of darkness as we still have months of this year left to honor the intentions we set for ourselves in January. This is our time to refocus, to head ourselves into things that are meaningful, and deep and true within our core.
The good news is that it is not an “either, or” kind of month. You get both. You get to Fall fest it up AND make time to sit and really lean in to what your Spirit is asking you to pay attention to.
We get to play and have fun and still enjoy some quiet evening time together. We get to enjoy our friends and invite laughter and good times to sit around an indoor table.
It is a season of balance. Of light and dark. Of community and solitude. Within these walls of time, may you experience the joys and abundance of both.
Forever the journey, Anne