What a month September has been. Have you felt a shift?
Warmer than usual weather extended summer here, but in spite of the warm temperatures, Mother Nature keeps reminding us with a wee nip that it is still Autumn and we are on course for the season of change. Even the green leaves were crispier this month as they resisted the change of colour, and of course as the prairies winds make their fall season appearance in full force, we are watching the multi-coloured leaves hit the ground seemingly overnight.
This season of change, this move from the vibrant growth of summer into preparation for a season of hibernation is so challenging. It’s a time to shed what we’ll not have the stamina to sustain. But with shedding comes grief.
My September hijack and its accompanying grief felt like it was breaking me. There was lots of introspection, reflection, forgiveness, healing, and a ton of growth.
The Jewish New Year is coming up this week – a significant time for introspection and reflection as we review the year gone by, atone for any misgivings and look for meaningful ways to improve and grow in the coming year. Admittedly, it was also a difficult year to be Jewish too with antisemitism on an alarming rise.
As all these pieces of me felt like they were breaking apart, I saw cracks of lights and reached for them. Whether it was family, friends or colleagues, my tribe was there with flashlights illuminating the cracks so I could breathe in the light and find my way back, reminding me of my own inner strength and resilience.
My Positive Intelligence Coaching and my Art practices were the healing tools I needed as I started to put some of my pieces back together again. And in both I found deeper insights I’d never before gleaned, making each of them even more glorious tools to continue to lean into moving forward.
Boundaries took on a whole new meaning and with some of those boundaries came immense pain, but also an enormous amount of peace asI rooted into my own.
As I prepare to enter this upcoming season and New Year, I do so a little more whole than last year, in spite of the innumerable challenges this year has posed.
Some of my pieces were not serving me and needed to be shed. Some of my pieces have found new meaning and new purpose.
I am not, nor was I ever broken. I am merely continuing to break through.
So my Lessons Learned this week are indeed my own, but expressed through an unknown author:
