The Balancing Act
The Autumn Equinox is a time for reflection and gratitude. This year it falls on 23rd September. It is the time when light equals dark. We stand on the dagger’s edge before the gentle tip back into the dark.
I am what you’d probably call a nature worshiper. The added benefit is I am equally part of nature, so I get to worship myself. It may sound narcissistic to some. For me, it is learning to give my supportive inner champion the same amount of headspace as I do my scathing inner critic. This is a work in progress.
Observe, and you will notice the rhythmic and cyclic patterns in nature. Here in the northern hemisphere, I am subject to the changing cycles between light and dark along with the shifting seasons. The glaring fact is we humans have mutilated the environment to the detriment of all species, including ourselves. Typical seasonal weather patterns are shifting. Unprecedented weather events that only happen every fifty to a hundred years are becoming more common. Habitats are shifting. Artificial light confuses our circadian rhythms.
Journeying Inward
Despite our thoughtless intervention, I try to live in rhythm with the natural world. For me, the autumn equinox is the time when I begin to shift my perspective inward. Take a tree as an example. This is the time it shreds its fruits and its leaves. The sap withdraws and slows. It’s all about preparation for the winter ahead.
A time for gratitude
Equally, those fruits have seeds. Often, such seeds require the cold, dark winter to properly germinate come the spring. It is a time to reflect on what has borne fruit this year, and what seeds I wish to nurture through the winter in readiness for spring. What I have achieved so far this year? What has borne fruit and what lessons can be learned? I also use this time just to be grateful for what I do have.
What have I achieved? I need to dwell on it, but I will put my thoughts in my next newsletter, which I’ll send out next week. If you’re not already, you can subscribe here.
What have you achieved this year? What are you grateful for?