Beginning Anew

“Fall Movement”
Self-Portrait, October 2021

August gives way to September.

A shift, a change, a new beginning.

Every season we are reminded that life is ever changing. One moment it is one way and the next it is not. Just look to nature and you will understand how temporary and fleeting everything is. A flower blooms one day and decays the next. Trees are green for the entirety of summer until you wake up one day to find color among their foliage.

How reassuring to know that nature can go through a change and survive. Better yet, it can go through a change and thrive.

In all seasons, nature is bright with life and color. Even winter brings with it the calming beauty of rest. We must begin to see the same for ourselves.

In our own seasons, we must be reminded that change is beautiful. As we move into an ending, we only need to look at the passage of night to know it will ultimately end with the dawn. Our periods of summer will come to a close with the striking vibrance of autumn.

Nothing in life is constant, change is always present. Navigating it can be scary and fraught with challenges, but moving through it with acceptance and understanding is the best way to do it. Like a horse grows a thicker coat to prepare for winter, we too can grow a steely determination to make it through.

You are stronger than you think. Just like a tree will bend under the pressure of a storm, when the skies clear it goes back to reaching for the sky, you will not be broken in the storms and changes of life.

There is a shift, a change, and a new beginning waiting for you on the horizon. Look to nature to be reminded of the beauty of such possibilities and know that you have what it takes to make it through.