Letting Go

Fall has arrived. The light is changing. Sunlight feels more precious now that there is a crispness in the air. Fall can support us as human beings in many ways. Some, our culture remembers. Some we have forgotten. How does the fall feel to you? I hear people express relief that the family is back in the schedule of school and work. This is a natural impulse in fall, to seek steady work and the reassuring boundaries of a routine. In other ways, we go against our natural rhythms at this time of year. As the plants and wild things begin to die back and go underground, preserving their strength for a long winter ahead, we speed up our schedules and go to parties, sign up for boot camp, and go to the mall. We begin to feel the frenzy of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Still, in these holidays marked by a thousand dollar store trinkets, there is is an echo of the qualities and gifts of fall. Death and gratitude. These are strange bedfellows but they do work hand in hand. Life is precious and our loved ones are precious. Fall is quiet and clear. As the trees let go of their leaves, we can let go also, and the whole world will support us.