We are in the time of late summer, the harvest of our Mother Earth. We can begin to take stock by celebrating the bounty of the season and all that has grown and developed in our lives during this summer. For many of you, travels and vacations have happened, children are getting ready to go back to school, the gardens have been planted and harvested, family gatherings and picnics have taken place. So much to be grateful for.
A sweet time for sure, late summer. I hope you have had a chance to swim in a natural body of water and cleansed, and perhaps prayed, and felt atoned – at-one with Spirit. I hope you have been able to observe how your child is changing, maturing. I hope you have been able to unwind in the sun’s warmth, reconnect with the joy of family and friends and relax even a little, maybe while noticing a soft breeze, or smelling the scent of the earth, or the ocean. I hope you have had a chance to bite into a wonderful gift from your garden or the farmer’s market (a tomato, a strawberry?) and remembered gratitude. I hope you have sung. I hope you have danced.
I find that the art of presence, the present, the practice of being present to each season, to each change in our lives is so essential. I, too, find it tempting to say “now what?” when summer begins to wind down. And yet I know that this time of late summer and of harvest calls me to, first, be a witness to the sweetness. To savor, to ruminate, to mull. They are all gifts of late summer. All necessary before being able to move forward in a healthy, integrated way.
This summer I noticed that my youngest nephew is more independent and will very soon be a teenager. I have noticed the passage of time more keenly, savored moments with those folks who nourish my heart. Cooked a lot. Read a lot. Worked diligently. I am still savoring the harvest. Doing my best to stay present to that abundance, those gifts before moving on to what’s next. It is still very hot here and not easy to venture out into the woods. The time to transition will come with the cooling of the weather and the Earth will let me know autumn is near.
