Walking through local farmland today, there was a real chill to the air. Almost all the plantlife seemed to be in some kind of state of decay. The remaining blackberries seem to now all be dried up and decaying on the bushes. Red, orange, yellow and brown leaves barely hanging onto branches, the trunks of trees surrounded by the leaves that have already fallen. Raindrops glisten on abandoned spider webs. The autumn shows us that decay can be beautiful.
When the leaves fall, they protect the tree for the winter and provide it with nutrients for the cold months ahead. It’s a good time for us to slow down and take care of ourselves too.
The seasons are in a constant cycle of change and nothing ever stays the same. We have different seasons in life, too. Changes can be big and small, can take a long time or happen quickly. Sometimes we want to hold on to what we know and what is familiar, like the leaves clinging on to the trees. However, there is a beauty in letting go.
As we get older, our hair doesn’t stay as lustrous and our skin doesn’t remain youthful and plump. Our bodies begin to slow down and not work quite like they once did. But there’s a beauty to the wrinkles and scars we gain along the way. All signs of a life lived…and hopefully well-lived!
As we enter the final season of life, death, all we can really hope for is that like the trees in autumn we are surrounded by beauty. Those we love the most and the beautiful memories we’ve made with them and others we’ve lost along the way.