Fall is more than a season, it is a time of transition. And yet transition is a period most of us struggle with the most. The key is to make room for the light.
It is officially fall, in my mind at least, even if the temperatures have not gotten with the program yet. It is now past September 1, which means I can unabashedly display pumpkins and autumnal tones to my heart’s delight. Of course there are boundaries…I may display pumpkins, but I do not go running to purchase anything flavored with pumpkin or spice, let alone both together. I may be in the minority on that one.
Fall is my favorite season of the year. Give me hoodies and light jackets, a cool breeze, relief from summer, and piles of leaves in a menagerie of colors. Bonfires, corn mazes, hay rides, pumpkin patches, and driving with the windows down.
So perfectly, perfect.
At its heart, fall is a time of transition. A median between the two extremes of scorching, unforgiving heat with its evil cousin humidity and the freezing tundra of plummeting temperatures that runs ice through our veins (relatively speaking…I know we are in the South).
As people, typically it is during times of transition that we struggle the most. Going from the known to the unknown. The comfortable to the anxiety inducing. We make plans, redo the plans, make a list of pros and cons, prepare, double check, check ourselves, overthink, overexert, and likely repeat the whole process over again.
You know what we sideline during a season of change? Calm. Being in the moment.
A lot happens on the path from A to B. Twists and turns, doubling back, taking the path less traveled. Learning lessons, sometimes easily and other times, reluctantly or until we have no other choice.
Transition is challenging, demanding even--but that does not mean it cannot take our breath away.
So much of the chaos comes from within ourselves and not the situation. Our resistance is what clouds our perception. We don’t have to surrender to reduce the chaos, but if we open ourselves just a little—we create just enough space for the light to come in.
The light manifests in different forms. It can be calm, or laughter, or identifying the positive, or realizing we are not alone, or even dinner and a glass (or bottle) of wine. But here’s the thing, it is up to us to get out of our own headspace.
Change, whether permanent or temporary, will stay with us for all of our days. Getting to B takes effort. We never learn so much as we do during navigation. And let’s be honest, navigating in the dark is not advisable. Find the light source that works for you.
For some of us, the light is illusive. Try as we might, we either cannot make room for the light or are incapable of finding it. Let your eyes adjust. Once you become accustomed to the night of darkest black, the light of a million stars will guide you. Anyone can sail by daylight, but only masters can navigate by constellations.
Immerse yourself in the journey even if you cannot fully embrace it. The hardest lessons, about ourselves and this life, come from transition.
You will come out on the other side. And yes, eventually, another odyssey will come your way. Just as the seasons shift and change, so must we. Fall is the gateway, and a reminder a new year is coming.
You can choose to hibernate. Or pull on a hoodie and enjoy the blaze of color.
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