October brings us into the full flush of glorious autumn. Shades of green miraculously morph into flaming reds and oranges. Gold and umber and rust and brown all vie for our attention, as in the handiwork of a painter whose brush has drawn randomly from a vibrant palette.

What September began, October continues—and richens—to our eyes’ seasonal delight.

Samuel Butler wrote: “Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.”

In the midst of bittersweet autumn, reminders of our mortality are balanced by a sense of lessons learned, tasks completed, and a maturity that takes inventory of our gains as well as our losses—and gives thanks.

Emily Dickinson wrote:

The Soul unto itself
Is an imperial friend
Or the most agonizing Spy
An Enemy—could send—

In autumn, as in the course of our soul’s development, we decide which way it is—a mourning for the dying past, the signs of decay all around us? Or a rejoicing in this necessary process, a clearing of the landscape, within and without, to begin the cycle toward new and greener life.

The welcome fruits of October and the beauty of the leaves proclaiming their last hurrah can soothe our souls through this transition, as autumn points and shouts: Pay attention … this too is life!

The diameter of each day is measured by the stretch of
thought—not by the rising and setting of the sun.
—Henry Ward Beecher.

There’s no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down.
—Irish proverb.

Isabel Anders

[Adapted from Seasons for the Soul]

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