Have you thought about embracing the four seasons as a guide and reflection opportunity?
As we enter autumn, or fall, there is an invitation to reflect on the meaning of this season for our lives – and for letting go.
How do you experience or even embrace the Autumn season?
Where I live, the seasons are fairly balanced, and I welcome the coolness of fall after the sweltering heat of the summer. My spirit wants to be outside, taking in all the colors of the leaves as they are released from the trees. My inner child wants to jump into a pile of leaves, drink hot cocoa, and carve a pumpkin.
So, what does it mean to “embrace this season?” For me, it is to:
- Notice the rhythm in our lives.
- Be present to experience and enjoy the goodness and uniqueness of each season.
- Mark the passage of time and be curious about what this season might mean to me or what invitation it might have for me.
Fall is a season of maturation and change.
Let’s use this as a time for reflection, awareness, and mindfulness. I invite you to consider the following questions:
- How have you matured and changed this year?
- What are you now being invited to release?
- Are there commitments, relationships, or patterns that no longer serve you? What would it look like to let them go?
- What attitudes or beliefs can you release to make more space for something new?
- What would it look like to “organically” let the release happen? This may look like surrendering, yielding, or loosening your grip.
What We Need to Release
As survivors, we may need to release a feeling of being overwhelmed.
- Heavy hopelessness or layers of grief can steal our joy.
- Letting go can feel impossible, but by releasing what we hold onto, we make room for new life and pivotal possibilities to break through.
Visualization Exercise
- Now think about something wonderful being offered.
- Your hand must open to receive.
- If you hold tightly to something in the past, it may prevent you from receiving the gift of the present.
Why is releasing so hard?
We live in a culture that denies pain and suffering and encourages every possible method of distraction. It sends messages of “be strong,” “move on,” or “think positive.”
What we must realize is that the reality of pain is a given.
- When we deny this pain, we become stuck in unhealthy patterns, hurting ourselves and others.
- Acknowledging that something is not right allows us to see it, address it, and release it.
- This is how we begin to open our hands, minds, and hearts.
Author Johanna Macy describes the power of letting ourselves experience our pain. When we hold back, we become incapable of acting in a meaningful way. When we suppress the pain, Macy says, we tend toward three main coping strategies: Disbelief, denial, and double life. Do any of these strategies sound familiar?
On the 15th of this month, we will explore some ways to begin to release. For now, be thinking about the following:
- How have you matured and changed this year?
- What are you now being invited to surrender or release?
- Are there commitments, relationships, or patterns that no longer serve you? What would it look like to let them go?
- What attitudes or beliefs can you release to make more space for something new?
- What would it look like to “organically” let the release happen? This may look like surrendering, yielding, or loosening your grip.
I hope that you are inspired to embrace this beautiful season.
Here’s to Thriving, Tambry
