Summer was so long, and so short, once again. It was a long time to go without writing, and a lot of busy days seemed to go on and on without many breaks. Getting in the time to relax, adventure, and create meaningful routines made it feel like a short, quick flash of a moment. Gardening didn’t get enough attention and now it’s close to freezing at night. The nighttime fires I was looking forward to didn’t happen nearly as much as I had imagined. It’s not too late, but the days are short before we will all be huddled inside, keeping warm for the winter season.

So often, autumn brings the awareness of change that causes us to do more and think we need to do more. This year, it feels like the freedom to let go, rest, and just be present in the steadiness of the seasons change. This is an effect of healing. I smile knowing that my soul can finally recognize my true needs because I am no longer skating on the edge of survival. I spent a lot of years keeping busy; doing the things that I thought helped avoid the silence and space where fear lived. Even on this side of healing, I recognize other people are still in that mental trap of trying to out-do their anxieties. If this is you, take a breath, exhale, and prioritize tending to your need so that you can rest, recover, and repair from what has wounded you. In other words, choose yourself today. I wish I had sooner. I did in little ways, but I kept pushing myself down and taking care of everyone else.

People pleasing is a symptom of an untreated wound. It avoids the care we need to give ourselves. Imagine having a broken arm but you just keep using it because you are afraid that when the doctor fixes it, it will hurt. Of course there will be pain and restrictions so your arm can heal. If you don’t treat it, everything you do will be affected by the limitations of your broken arm. People as a whole tend to avoid fixing emotional wounds because they fear the pain that the correction will bring but there can’t be true healing until you go through the pain and release it. Toxic relationships, being controlled, or limited, or devalued, insecurities that silence your own voice, holding onto a false image of yourself because something was projected upon you, doubts that stem from a lack of failure that leads to clarity, uncertainty about your identity, gifts, or purpose; all have the impact of digging in like a splinter and left unchecked it will fester and produce agony.

Let this autumn season be a reminder that we need to slow down, rest, and brace for winter. Do the things that represent harvest season. Give your all and prepare yourself so that when winter comes you can lay it down and let it be.