We are just beginning the Fall season (at least for some parts of the country). I LOVE this season and celebrate in a variety of ways. I bust out my slow cooker for veggie soups and stews, bake pumpkin pies (vegan and gluten free this year!), take my nieces and nephews apple picking, run around in the leaves, put on a fat sweater and cozy up next to the fire with my hubby…
Autumn has a symbolic significance as well. This time of year signals the coming of the next phase. It is about restoring so we can prepare for what’s to come.
This excerpt from Parker Palmer’s contemplative piece, Autumn as Metaphor, really resonated with me.
“Autumn is a season of great beauty but is also a season of decline: the days grow shorter, the light is suffused, and summer’s abundance decays toward winter’s death. Faced with this inevitable winter, what does nature do in autumn? She scatters the seeds that will bring new growth in the spring—and she scatters them with amazing abandon.
In my own experience of autumn, I am rarely aware that seeds are being planted. In the autumnal events of my own experience, I am easily fixated on surface experiences—on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a vocation. And yet, if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.”
Palmer goes on to describe challenging life situations that, at the time, seemed hopeless but actually provided the opening for new opportunities: “On the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently and lavishly, the seeds of new life were always being sewn.”
Yes, the cycle of life provides endless opportunities for transformation.
Deepak Chopra asks, “What has to die in your life for what you are creating to be born?”
Fall is a fitting metaphor for our lives.
And you? What does Fall mean to you? What memories do you have? What seeds are you scattering with amazing abandon? What will you do to celebrate the season? Please share!
I hope you have an incredible Autumn and, as always, take care of you.
Love love love
Terri
Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist, transformation coach, and an expert at turning fear into freedom. Sign up for Terri’s weekly Tune Up Tips and follow her on Twitter.
*Photo Credit: Eduardo Amorim via Compfight cc
