"September is the other January" - Gretchen Rubin
There is something about September that feels like a beginning, maybe that is why starting my new blog with this post feels so right.
Perhaps it is something that we have carried with us since childhood, the feeling of a new school year, the new notebook, sharpened pencils and clean pages waiting to be filled.
Or perhaps the start of September means something deeper.
The Wheel of the Year has been turning all summer, quietly carrying us towards this moment. The days are beginning to shorten. The mornings are cooler. The leaves are starting to change colour, some are falling and on my walk this morning, I picked up my first conker... a moment of pure joy.
Somewhere beneath the warmth of late summer, autumn is beginning to stir and September is asking us to embrace change, to look at nature for inspiration and to apply it to our modern lives.
Release the old
The energy of September is not necessarily to start again but to let go.
After the chaos of the summer months, we can often find ourselves off track, far from the intentions that we set at the start of the year. This is a time to recalibrate and focus on what we can achieve over the next season.
This is a time to pause, be true to yourself and see exactly where you are. When we look to nature for inspiration we can see that the trees are preparing for the winter months and in order to continue to grow and prosper they must let go of all of the weight they are carrying. What pressures and expectations are weighing you down? This is the time to release the old in order to grow.
The release doesn't have to be dramatic, it could be something as simple as getting back to a healthier way of life, committing to saying goodbye to the excess of summer and focusing on your diet or getting back to the gym or whatever exercise you prefer. Maybe you haven't had time to meditate or to read as much as you normally do due to a busier social calendar. Maybe you need to focus on your sleep now the nights are longer and the summer events are over.
Maybe you can feel a bigger shift, something heavier maybe standing in the way of your goals or blocking the best version of yourself. Remember, when you let go, you create space in your life for something new.
What are you still carrying that should be left in summer:
An old expectation of yourself?
A habit that no longer serves you?
A story you continue to tell about who you are (or used to be)?
Something you said yes to long ago but no longer want to carry?
The turning of The Wheel reminds us that nature doesn't stay still and neither should we. We change, our circumstances change and so do our needs. Where you are today, maybe very different from where you were and who you were in January... embrace that.
So, as September begins and we start this new chapter together, let's pause for a moment.
Look back with kindness and be grateful for what has served you and then when you are ready, put something down, let it fall. There is no rush to fill the space it leaves behind, in fact the space is part of the gift.
May this article be a sign, let it remind you that just as nature releases whatever it has to in order to move forward, so can you.
Practical Magic - a gentle practice for today
Take a few minutes today to ask yourself:
What am I ready to put down, to let fall? What are you ready to let go of?
Don't search for the biggest answer, it might be something very small. Maybe journal about it, or maybe just open your Notes App and write a list of the things that you are ready to release.
You don't need to know what comes next, it's enough to make a little more room or to lighten the load.
And The Wheel turns. And we turn with it.
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