Autumn Approaches

 

Autumn Approaches…

by Visionkeeper

Summer is fading quickly, bright splashes of wild flowers are now replaced by fields of golden rod and dying grasses. The air is tinged with a musty smell as leaves begin to slowly fall to earth and rot in the dampness of cooler evenings and we pull out a quilt to take the chill off as we sleep. I wonder to myself why we feel such sadness as the seasons change. It is not forever, summer will return again next year and life will be easier once again as we strip clothes off instead of adding them on. It is far easier to open a window to catch a breeze than load up the wood stove and haul in wood. Is that why we feel sad to see summer end? Or could it be that we lose a bit more of our freedom when we have to go inside and shut the doors and windows to stay warm? Does losing that freedom remind us of other freedoms we have lost? Is the passing of summer into Autumn unearthing buried truths and hidden emotions? Or could just it be that we don’t do well with change no matter how it comes our way? We just get used to the carefree days of summer then BAM, it is ending and we must change our ways yet again to accommodate the colder temperatures moving in. Change is such a mystery because we humans have such a hard time accepting it.

I think the energies we are feeling these days are not just the super moons, but it is also the flux of changes we are all enduring in our lives. Everything around us is shifting and changing and not always for the better. It leaves us unnerved and on edge, not quite knowing what we are meant to do next. Humans tend to like to make plans and it is next to impossible to make plans in this crazy world right now. What is here today could well be gone tomorrow. In order to flow with these changes that are erupting all around us we are being asked to change ourselves as well. The ultimate fear that for some reason most everyone dreads. In order to change ones life one must be willing to cross that proverbial stream, where we are in limbo with one foot on one shore and the other foot is anchored to the other shore. We have a momentary fear when lifting off and experiencing being ungrounded until that foot we just lifted up joins the other on the shoreline. In that moment we are risking loosing our footing, falling or slipping, but going forward we must in order to get where we are going.

These times demand strong faith and belief in ourselves. There is very little around us we can count on to remain the same, and so we must be able to count on ourselves to remain grounded and secure. In order to have faith in ourselves we must first know who we are and have a plan as to where we are headed, otherwise we would have to struggle with living our lives with a stranger. Life is hard enough to get through at the moment without more uncertainty. As we head into the cooler seasons and begin to close our doors and windows, it is a good time to go within and open up and establish a good relationship with ourselves. By opening up we get to keep the freedom we lost by closing doors and windows. Knowing who we are is liberating and something essential to remaining secure. All knowledge is liberating yet we tend to fear it and shut our ears to knowing the truth. We humans fight against ourselves at every turn.

To go with the flow we must embrace truth no matter how painful and frightening it may be. The truth is what it is, there is no running away from it, it will always seek us out and stare us down. It is like that trip to the dentist we dread and put off and cancel our appointments then reschedule. It is only when we actually go and face it and leave the office that we feel the weight lift from our shoulders and a giddy lightness takes hold. The world is ugly in many ways right now and looking away from it rather than at it seems a better option, but is it really? Knowing truth is arming oneself with our most powerful weapon. Knowing the truth is cold and often brutal, but not knowing truth creates that dreaded fear of the unknown which weighs us down, fogs our thinking and stifles our growth. Let us not only take the time this fall to know ourselves and work on ourselves as the cold weather approaches, but let us find the courage to know the truth no matter how awful and arm ourselves for whatever comes our way. To know ourselves is to build a strong foundation beneath our feet and having the courage to face the truth is what creates the structure around us, our road map to wherever we are going in life. So let us drag out the sweaters and quilts and settle into becoming our own best friend, armed and ready to face all the unknowns of our tomorrows.

Blessings to us all,

Visionkeeper