It has been a stunningly beautiful week here on the left coast; bright sunshine, warm days, cool nights, and the leaves on the trees beginning to displaying a subtle orange-yellow hue. I go for meandering walks during my lunch hour to take it all in, listening to Leonard Cohen covers and Nick Drake on my iPod to enhance the experience. I am a hopeless case.
There is something inherently familiar and reassuring about the changing of the seasons, and autumn in particular. I feel tethered to rhythms in nature that have persisted for years beyond measure. It puts me in my rightful place, and I am briefly aware of being small part of an intricate cycle that chugs along regardless of how I feel about it or whether I choose to take notice.
The familiar sensations of this season register on a very primal and subconscious level for me, and it awakens something in me where I am briefly more attuned to a larger world. It suddenly becomes more urgent to attend to my surroundings, especially the fleeting sunshine that with each passing day permeates from a lower position in the sky.
The other day I was overwhelmed by the scent of decaying blackberries from the ubiquitous bushes that line a pond nearby; it was such a powerful sensation that it seemed possible not to only smell it, but to hear and witness first-hand the abundant nutrients returning back to the soil. The berries have such a fleeting moment, months of gradual budding, flowering and a brief period of ripeness, followed by inevitable decay.
This perhaps is what makes this time of year so appealing, for all the beauty, smells and colour are really the bi-product of decay, the last gasp of life leading to a state of dormancy. New life will follow soon enough in the months to come, though in that moment of decline there is a profound gift of sublime beauty given to those willing to take notice.
Birth and rebirth in a short span of time. Cycles of life that are integral to who we are as humans, a reminder of the radiance that is life itself and the precious gift that it is.
Breathe it in deeply friends.
5 comments:
What a lovely bit of musing. Autumn really does heighten the senses and make one ponder all manner of things, although not as eloquently as you do.
Muse away.
I have so neglected you. I discovered you again by chance.
Yes Autumn is my favourite season with its colours and, as you so beautifully and poetically say, decay.
To me it is also a cleansing period.
Thanks for the comments all - I still continue my endless musing and reflection in this season of change (it also provide another excuse to make great playlists for long meandering walks)
We still have more green here than not. It's been cool but so very wet. Such weird weather we have had this year.
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