A few days ago, the Autumnal Equinox took place. It’s a time when the Earth community stands between the longest and shortest days of sunlight. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are now moving toward more darkness while in the Southern Hemisphere the approach is toward more light. It’s a reminder that we all share the light and darkness and every season, the contemplation and action of abundant Life. I experience it as a special season, a time of reflection on what has been and what can be.

Next week, the month of September will come to an end while the month of October will begin. The leaves will continue to change color, grow old and drop from the trees. This season of soul will demonstrate to us how important it is to let go, shed what has been to allow what can be. For many it will be a time of melancholy while for others it will be a time of celebrating the harvest and preparing for the longer nights and colder days. The sighs we’ll hear from ourselves and others will be of relief, weariness, grief and hope.

As one month leads to another, I find myself looking forward and backward. I notice the roads traveled and less traveled, the opportunities enjoyed and thwarted, the teachings accepted and rejected, the paths of joy and sorrow. We humans seem to recognize the Autumn season as a time to ponder the parts of ourselves we leave behind and the parts we have yet to explore. It tends to be a time of emptiness and fullness that brings both tears and laughter, death and new life, sighs of mourning and thanksgiving.

For those who embrace September, there seems to be a special mellowness and inner light that shines on. By giving a significant harvest, Nature joins the celebration as we enjoy apple cider, pumpkin pie and harvest moons. We soon recognize that the work is not done, just different. We ready ourselves for a slower pace and embrace the  grace. As the sunlight diminishes, the inner light grows. Fires from a distant past are kindled in the present while hopes and dreams are forged into a new future with a yearning sigh.

The wind in the branches express the winds of time that blow through us as if we were invisible. The good we have harvested continues to manifest as our attention leads to new knowledge and growth. Life becomes a thing of many moving parts and changes as we discover a new ease of doing. Joy comes in surprise packages daily as we’re able to open our hearts, minds and hands. The darkness becomes the solace while the light becomes the strength. Within the deep sighs of September we become new seeds bringing forth new gatherings, new harvests, new ways of Being, Belonging, Becoming. 

The sighs of September teach us to relax, to take a few steps back while pondering the next steps we’re to take forward. Useful lessons are reflected on from what worked and what didn’t. A certain resilience and resolve comes from whatever adversities we’ve faced. They help us to experience the energies that draw us through dark times into new light. The sighs teach us to rest, reflect, receive and reach for new horizons. We become part of the harvest, part of the fullness, part of the sacred seeds. 

The endless process of birth, life, death and new life is acted out with each sigh, each letting go, each loss, each gain of new growth from seeds planted from past harvests. We, like trees stand as sentinels, beacons of the ongoing rhythms of Life, of the ever present Nature of Being. We’ve inherited the Fires of Life, the Living Waters, the Winds of Change, the Fertility of the Earth. With sighs too deep for words, let us sow the new seeds of love and deep understanding. Let us leave what is done and take on what is yet to become for future generations; with joyful celebration, beyond melancholy. 

• As an exercise in joyful celebration, take a deep breath and drop your shoulders on your exhale. Do it again and again. Feel the release of tension and the opportunities for new growth in this simple exercise. Do it throughout the day. Sow new seeds.
• As we move further along through September into October, become more and more aware of the changing trees, the blowing leaves, the cooler nights and shorter days. Allow yourself to become part of this slow moving change. Ponder with an Autumn perspective. Become more reflective. What are you being asked to let go of ? Why?
• As you celebrate the Autumn harvest, find within yourself that which you can celebrate. Note the harvest of this time for You….What might it be? Why? When? Where? How? Who with?  Plan a celebration no matter how small. Plant some new sacred seeds for the next harvest season. . . .Be Bold. . . . Be Joyful. . . . Be Alive!