Autumn Letting Go

This is the first full day of autumn!  We don’t need the calendar to remind us because there are signs of autumn all around us.  The weather has cooled, the geese are heading south, the days are shorter, the fields have turned golden and leaves are turning brilliant colors.

Along with its brilliance and splendor, autumn touches my core with wordless messages about the necessity of surrender and transformation. It reminds me that when I let go of certain things, it makes room for others and to see things more clearly. 

Here’s a simple example.  We all have possessions that no longer use and yet that take up space.  A friend of mine adopted the practice of getting rid of one thing each day that she no longer needed.  What a great idea!  Letting go of possessions is very freeing. It opens both physical space, and well as psychic space.  It clears away space so there’s room inside and out for what’s new and creative and life-giving in the present. 

So, as we begin this new season of the year, I’m pondering what it is that I want to let go of this autumn.  What about you?

Mary Ann Nelson, OP

Madison, WI