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Posts from the ‘Autumn’ Category

Aug 24

Slow, Gentle Rhythms

“August is the slow, gentle month that stretches out the longest across the span of a year. It yawns and lingers on with the light in its palms.” — Victoria Erickson

“We must be willing to get rid of
the life we’ve planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.

The old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come.

If we fix on the old, we get stuck.
When we hang onto any form,
we are in danger of putrefaction.

Hell is life drying up.”
― Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

Seasons on the cusp of change.
Not there yet.
Still roads to be traveled, reveled.
No leaping ahead, nor falling behind.
Full presence, thresholding.
Summer still blooming and fertile.
Fall scattering strokes of crimson and gold as green yields.
Transitions, the first steps to transformation.

“August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

Nov 8

Beauty Lingers, Awaiting Your Noticing

“one small thing
I’ve learned these years,
how to be alone,
and at the edge of aloneness
how to be found by the world.”
― David Whyte, River Flow

“Song for Autumn”

Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for

the birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”― Mary Oliver

Autumn beauty lingering
Awaiting your noticing
Partaking
Praise
Presence
Finish opening the gifts of the season
Beauty within and out
In all seasons.

“When we devote some calm time to the heart and come off the treadmill of stress and distraction we can enter into the beauty within.  Each of us can prepare for that inner arrival: where ‘night holds sway’ and the inner forest becomes ‘free of strangers’.” – John O’Donohue

Nov 2

November Color, Light, Bloom

“Trees still grow after letting dead things go.”― Darnell Lamont Walker

“WELCOME NOVEMBER…

There is something about November that says ‘just keep going’.
We are not quite through the year yet the finish-line looms out of nowhere.
We are plunged into darkness by Mother Nature.
We are faced with the ‘season of joy’,
and yet many of us wonder where we will find it.

And I think November is a great time to take a little peek behind you,
and see just how much you’ve done.
To take stock of your achievements, your endurance,
your survival.
To rest, reinforce, before the festivities envelope us all.
Before beautiful new beginnings.

And most importantly, November is a time to seek out light.
As the natural order darkens, we must find it ourselves.
We must do whatever we can to brighten our day,
our home, the world.

Seek out light wherever you can my friends,
and pay no heed to those who condemn your sparkle.

You are much-needed.

Keep showing up, in that special way only you can do.
And show up for yourself too
(which can sometimes mean not showing up somewhere else).

This year has been hard.

Again.

But beautiful.

Again.

As is the way of life.

As is the way of life.” – Donna Ashworth

Music. Light. Dance. Color.
Partake, participate.
Keep showing up.
In all seasons.
Do not rank.
Do not discard.
Do not dismiss.
Be present, with vigor.
There is joy here.
To be found.
To be given.
To receive.
The way of life.
Well-lived, daily.
While in it.

“You are the music while the music lasts.”― T.S. Eliot

Oct 27

Mostly Live

“October, crisp, misty, golden October, when the light is sweet and heavy.”― Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop

“Under the brush of the autumn wind, the leaves dance, painted in hues of orange and gold, a visual symphony that sings in every corner of the forest.”― David Passarelli, Mountain poems: Musings on stone, forest, and snow

Lingering summer
Late fall
Beauty of each season
Gravity of today
Weight of wonder
Pull of joy
Push of awe
Look around
On the ground of this day
A visual symphony
Mostly live

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”― Dalai Lama XIV

Oct 4

Noticing and Abiding

“A flower will always grow in the direction of the sun because beauty recognises beauty.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

Song for Autum by Mary Oliver

“Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for

the birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”

Take in beauty and light
Fill up, pour out
Overflowing
In each season
Abundance
In the noticing and abiding

“There is an abiding beauty which may be appreciated by those who will see things as they are and who will ask for no reward except to see.” – Vera Brittain

Oct 3

October Blooming

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!” ― Rainbow Rowell , Attachments

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”
― Rainbow Rowell , Attachments

October
by Robert Frost

“O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.”

New month
Ushering in a new season
Summer lingers a bit longer
Soon to fall into fall
To begin again and again
Unfolding and unfurling
Mostly slow
Sometimes swift
Always blooming
Oh for eyes and heart to trust, wait, hope
For the gift of ordinary days
Extraordinary grace and joy
October blooming, planting seeds too.

“Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it, and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic.”― Melville Herman

Sep 27

Window of This Day

“For us, too, change is almost always a source of dislocation, but if nature teaches us anything, it’s that nothing prevents the passage of time, the turning of the seasons.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

“May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love.”
John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

To remain in this day, fully
Not looking back, but a glance in gratitude
Not looking forward, but a glance in hope
Generous and overflowing in love
Window of this day

“I stand at the window looking out, trying to remember the truths that nature always brings home. That what lies before me is not all there is. That time is ever passing, and not only when I notice. That strife and pain are no more unexpected than pleasure and joy. That merely by breathing I belong to the eternal.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

Sep 7

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Autumn Hymn

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower” – Albert Camus

Song for Autumn by Mary Oliver

“In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”

Green to gold
Swift to slow
Beauty woven into each season
To savor
Hold briefly
Unfolding to something new to sing.

Sep 5

Bloom in Harvest

“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.”― Raquel Franco

“Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies.”― Sharon Kay Penman, Time and Chance

Spring of autumn
Buds of scarlet, saffron, russet
Bloom in the harvest
Trees soon to be ablaze
Cool mornings
Crisp air
Take it in, fully
Awaken in each season
Gifts to open
Transition to transformation.

“…autumn, that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness…”― Jane Austen, Persuasion

Aug 30

Seasons in Harmony

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”― Alan Watts

“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one’s very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ― George Eliot

Autumn at the door
Let her in
Harvest
Deep colors of celebration
Of brilliant bloom, growth
Whether we see it yet or not
New life, different forms, shapes, sizes
Sunrises and sunsets remain
Grounding us in present beauty
In all seasons.

“The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.”― Alan Watts

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