Reflection

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Søren Kierkegaard…

Fall brings a period of refection in my life. I have missed that time in the five years living nine degrees above the equator when the seasons
 are measured in wet and not so wet and high and low.
Back in the world of falling leaves and falling temperatures it is a time of passing. This is the time of year that I am most moved by the passing of life and the beauty that is inherent in all things. in fifteen days I am mindful of the passing of life as it is the time of the second anniversary of the death of my granddaughter and another year without my best friend. Not a time of sadness alone but sadness tempered with the celebration of life. Quiet reflection on the reality that everything changes and nothing is permanent. Life renews in spring and passes through fall into the quiet of winter when everything is the simple hue of purity and the silence that comes with its cover reminds me of the stillness of my practice.
The fall season graces us with a show of brilliant color here in New England as everything dies there is the final brush stroke of brilliant red and orange filling the trees of the wood and draping the river with a garland of beauty. The setting sun casts it’s diamond luster on this vision of promise that it will be back in the new growth of spring and renewal.
I sit quietly everyday by the river and listen to the passing water that has and always will be there with and without me.
In this time of reflection I look around me and within me seeing both fullness and emptiness and comforted by both.
The days are not alone as the starry sky of night is unblemished by the pollution of light here in the country and in a few days the night will give me both a super moon and the quiet eclipse that for a few hours will let me watch it go from the illuminated landscape to the still orange into darkness only to return.
It is a thoughtful time, filled with memories and understanding. In the river I can almost hear the voices of the two who meant so much to me and were both a wonderful presence in my life. One who was always there since childhood and one who never went beyond her childhood. It’s too easy to feel that neither completed the passage of life and both went into the quiet of their winter to be reborn somewhere in spring.
My practice informs me that life is cyclical and like the seasons comes and goes, so I don’t get stuck in sadness but reflect on the meaning of change and how my life is no different than the seasons and Iwill also pass from the fall of life through winter and into spring.
As life passes in moments. days, months and years we should never be too busy with living to not take the opportunity to sit by a river, an ocean or in the wood and see the beauty of life around us and be filled with the joy of being alive and present.
Reflection is the chance to know how much there is for us in our lives and to again promise to be present and appreciate this life and all those who bring their voices into our experience…