Falling into Change

Hey there,

My name is Meg and I am a guest blogger this week for Ashlyn. Ash is a dear friend of mine and I am honored to have the opportunity to create in her space.

Okay. So. I love this time of year. It’s beautiful here in farm country with the leaves changing colors and the light peeking through the trees. The air is so crisp and the sky is really blue. It’s the type of beautiful where you can just open your front door and sit for a minute; the colors breath and the earth just kind of exhales. By the way, the other day I learned that “komorebi” is the Japanese word for when sunlight filters through the trees; the website defines it as “the interplay between the light and the leaves”. 11 Untranslatable Words from Other Cultures from the Huffington Post is an article you should totally check out. But it’s true. I have a friend studying in the city right now and I’ve been wondering how he can even manage not experiencing this season without a field of trees in plain sight. I guess skylines can satisfy this fix, though. We are all in the middle of our own beauties.

With the seasons changing and everything, I can’t help but notice the pull that it can create inwardly on us, as humans living on this earth. Whether we consciously notice it, the weather changes affect us a lot more than just wanting to pull a cozy sweater over our heads. I believe that, at some level, during fall we all have this innate need to maybe, just mayybeee, let go a little bit, like the trees. If you watch the way they effortlessly release their leaves at this time of year, you may notice how they wholly and truly, allow themselves to be vulnerable to these transformations. They don’t feel the need to hold onto any of the leaves that they have so gracefully sprouted in the spring and harbored in the summer. They just let go.

And granted, we aren’t trees- and life is hard. We are going to want to hold onto the things that make us feel comfortable but we know we have outgrown. We fear these changes. We want these leaves. We want this comfort. We crave this protection. But maybe - there are other plans. This is the season of slow & subtle decay, despite a spring and summer of rapid growth. It is only natural. It’s the only way we can make space for the new seasons and changes to come. So we need to release. And wait for another cycle to begin. Let yourself recycle all of your energy and begin to retreat inward when the wind blows briskly and the temperature drops. Letting yourself drop into the rhythm of the seasons. Maybe changing colors of your own and letting yourself glide off the branches you have once created for yourself. Recycle- refresh- allow yourself room for change- and begin again.
How can you do this in your life right now? What can you release with grace? Let’s take a peak inward and see what we can find out.

Wabi-Sabi. In Japanese, it means to accept the natural cycle of growth and decay. Let your leaves fall and have the courage to surrender with nature. Allow a new cycle to begin.
Here’s to a restorative season for you & your loved ones,

xo
Meg