Welcome, Autumn

As much as I fantasize about living somewhere with palm trees and plentiful sunshine, one thing I do appreciate about living with variant seasons is the reminder they serve to invigorate the natural phases in life. I think it's a good idea to recognize, and even institute, distinct phases of new beginnings, reaped rewards, shed waste, and quiet reflection. They're fundamentally cyclical, so each period is spawned out of the last, and sets the stage for the next.

As we embark on our planetary entrance into the interval we, in the Northern Hemisphere, call Autumn, we watch the deciduous leaves change a multitude of colors and litter the ground like lovely confetti. It reminds me that now is a great time to consider all I've reaped over the summer, all the joys and rewards I've collected, like booty from a fair, and appraise what is excessive. While I'm doing that, I will also take inventory of all my mental holdings, and begin the work of letting go of those things which no longer serve me. Some, I may find, never even did me any good at all, like those pants I picked up at Value Village that I just never wear because they're not very flattering or comfortable (things I failed to notice when I tried them on before agreeing to pay money for them and add them to my wardrobe). We amass a good deal of belief systems and thought processes as we progress through life, and it is well advised to take time to reconsider them on a regular basis. I still try foods I disliked in the past to see if my tastes have changed, and I frequently find they do! Similarly, I like to make sure that my operating system stays up-to-date and in-tune with my collaborative consciousness. Most of all, we would all do well to uphold a solid value system as the foundation from which to build. These can change, too, so this is where I begin my self-assessment. Recall that integrity is directly related to the strength of any given structure.

I will spend the next three months discarding spent, unneeded, and unhealthy modes of thought. I will examine my values and judge the beliefs I hold against them. Any faulty assumptions, rotted neural pathways, or counter-productive conceptions, will be disposed of like the dead leaves of fall. Relinquished will be outmoded insights, destructive reasoning, and inert perspectives. All this work will be done with the goal of establishing a tidy base from which to begin my "shadow work" in the Winter, when I really dig deep (details on that to come in December). This season, as I witness obsolete and toxic perceptions arise, I will recognize that they are not green, but red or brown, and simply let them fall away from me.