Feeling the Leaves

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Eccl. 3:1

What do feelings have to do with Autumn?

It's all about the "leaves."

Feelings leave and return, time and time again.

Sometimes we want to stand, arms outstretched under an autumn tree in the breeze,

trying to catch cascading leaves.

Or we bask in the glow and color of various leaves, collecting and admiring them.

Other times we'd prefer to step upon them, rake them up, and dump in a bin labeled "garbage." Yard waste. Refuse.

But in refusing these leaves of feelings, we may be hindering a necessary Season within us.

Ignoring the leaves can clog gutters, block flow and affect drainage.

Resenting the leaves in due season (Allergies! The mess! So much time to rake!) leads to greater hassle:

overwhelm sets in as piles accumulate and pathways are obscured.

Time and time again, trees and their leaves give us a window into mystery.

But busy humans like ourselves want to feel better-

to feel better about the quick leaf clean-up and the "neat and tidy" in our yards.

Yet life is in learning to better-feel, to allow feelings, like leaves, to flow. Over time.

Choosing to learn from Creation can have us contemplatingTrees of all types.

The Tree of Life means opening to the Unknowable in all of our nakedness and discomfort.

The Tree of Knowledge is beyond our comprehension:

once we think we know, we are simply hiding behind fig leaves.

And Leaves of Feelings have something to show and tell.

What are the leaves of feelings around you?

Awareness of the leaves takes noticing.

Which leaves do you want to hang onto?

Acceptance means seeing the leaves as they are, right now - green and flexible, or splotched with red-orange, or yellow-streaked, or brown and withering.

Which leaves do you want to let go of?

Acceptance also holds loosely; it's openness to the bittersweet of entering and departing leaves.

Which leaves are calling to you?

Attending to the leaves happens by watching, listening, and being in the leaves of the moment.

It's permission to become immersed.

It's allowing care as they come, and as they go.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

So give yourself time.

Because in allowing the necessary flow

of our own leaf-cycles,

we have the ability to co-create and share in

the richness of this compost.

Entering and Leaving.

Spread Love. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. - Mother Teresa