What we must do

I suppose,

is to hope the world

keeps its balance.

What we are to do however

with our hearts,

waiting and watching,

I truly do not know.

~Mary Oliver

when is it time to celebrate again?

inquiry for today~ may you find your way in the dark…

this wildness of kindness

Autumn is a time of transition, of the earth’s turning, with the balance of light and dark in the northern hemisphere tilting toward the dark season and the invitation to release the excess we carry and rest into growing Mystery. At the heart of autumn’s gifts are the twin energies of relinquishing and harvesting. It is a season of paradox that invites us to gather in the harvest, to name and celebrate the fruits of the seeds we planted months ago. At the same time we are invited to consider what we are called to release and surrender.

The season of autumn calls us to honor the full spectrum of human experience, to not push away the sorrow and grief, to not fill the waiting with distractions. Fall thrusts us into the messiness of life and challenges us not to turn away. This is sometimes the relinquishment demanded of us. 

But equally, this season calls us to the harvest. Seeds planted long ago create a bounty and fullness in our lives. Autumn invites us to remember the places in life where we had a dream that once felt tiny and has now grown and ripened into fullness. We move toward our own ripening and in that journey we let go of what no longer serves us. Fall urges us on to our own completion and sweetness.

This season reminds us that the journey of relinquishing all we hold dear is also the journey of harvesting. Somehow these two come together year after year. In holding them in tension we are reminded that in our letting go we also find abundance. What are you holding onto too tightly these autumn days that can be gently let go of in the season ahead?

~Christine Valters Paintner