Happy Fall Equinox!

How lucky are we as creatures of earth that the planet moves and provides us with seasonal change as offering for pause, reflection and recalibration? Every time we take a moment to notice that the season is changing, we are also allowing space for observation of our own changes – be them physical, mental, spiritual, or environmental.

The equinox asks us to think about that fall harvest. As the season changes from bountiful to dormant, from bright to dark, from summer to winter, the earth prepares to withdraw roots inward.  This is true not just for the planet, but also for our personal journey’s in this calendar year. When the fruits of our labors start to reach their peak and ask us to reap what we have sewn, we are in a place now to really and honestly look at this year so far and prepare for the future we have created for ourselves. What will this years harvest look like? Is it bountiful and sweet? Is it small but mighty? Is it lacking? Truly taking a moment today to reflect on the year thus far will provide fuel for winter fires and prepare you for the future that comes this way. No matter what you have sewn, the fruits will come. If the fruit is bitter, now is a beautiful blessing to acknowledge this and start to make adjustments so you can begin to sew seeds for sweeter rewards. That will not remove the bitter fruit you must have now, but it will prevent them from returning.

The equinox also invites us into the realm of impermanence. Summer kisses our cheeks as she makes her way to the other half of the world. Though we are sad to see her go, we also know that she will return, so there is no misery in it. And as winter comes and invites us back inside, though we may welcome the shift indoors (and inside ourselves), we embrace this because it is both change and will change again. None of this is permanent. It is as all things are – fleeting, temporary, and shifting. There may have been moments in this year you had wished would last forever as well as moments you thought would never end. Take a moment today to bring all of those into your mind and appreciate them for what they were – simple fleeting moments in this life that have come and passed. Rising simply to pass away. Anicca.

So, with all things being equal parts IS and WAS – take time to truly and deeply enjoy this day as you watch it pass. Take time to smile as it comes and passes and winter joins us here in the north. Remember the change will only be followed by yet another change and allow it to come. Welcome it. Celebrate it. Enjoy.