The seasonal changes have caught up to Barcelona and clouds of gray have engulfed the city in a blanket of rainy, fall weather. This morning hike featured some of the last of the blue skies I’ve seen for the past few days, and to say the least, it wasn’t a bad farewell to the golden light for the time being.
I’ve talked about the importance seasonal shifts hold within my life multiple times, but they honestly really help guide the intentions and actions I take within the year. I like to dedicate different months and periods of time to specific goals, and seasons tend to naturally guide that process for me. There’s something enlightening that comes with intertwining our modern lives with that of the natural world. For me at least, it feels easier because the physical state of nature around me is constantly reminding me of what I’m supposed to be doing. And now that nature is changing its state of being, I feel so inclined to as well.
Winter and summer mark such extremes, with summer being a period of abundance and energy, and winter presents itself a plain slate to morph into what it will become later on. But in between summer and winter and winter and summer are the spring and autumn, which present themselves more as seasons of transition. Fall is the season transitioning between summer and winter, and this transition presents itself as the act of letting go.
Autumn visually shows the changing of colors to warmer tones, the falling of the leaves, and dark rainy weather that begs us to stay warm and comfortable. The trees are banished of their leaves, the soil is stripped of their crop, and the world is left bare, a clean slate and period of rest and reflection, just in time for winter.
I’ve always felt the need to cling to as much as I can, whether it is ideas, thoughts, or emotional baggage, so this idea of letting go is important for me to tend to within my own life, and it always proves itself to be a rather challenging process. Ironically enough, I almost can’t let go of this idea of letting go, and I sometimes obsess a bit over it. But it’s still a topic of fascination within my own life, and for this video, I want to focus more on the areas I’ve been trying to harness this energy within.
The first opportunity I’ve been reflecting upon releasing is imaginary stressors. Within each scenario life throws our way, there is an array of possible outcomes, and I sometimes find myself battling with the worst outcome possible in my mind. I recognize it’s a way to protect myself if things actually go wrong, but most of the time, it is relatively unproductive and just makes me anxious. The time it takes worrying about outcomes that haven’t even occurred takes away from the energy I could be applying to take action in more meaningful ways.
- How does anticipating the worst feel like it’s protecting me? In what ways might this behavior actually limit or harm me instead?
- For a recent stressful situation, what would it feel like to imagine the best-case scenario? How would I approach it differently if I believed a positive outcome was more likely?
- If I had to rewrite my mental scripts about certain situations, what empowering or neutral outcomes could I envision instead of the worst?
The next thing I’m trying to practice letting go is my 20% problems. I say 20%, but it could really be any percentage. The idea is that the responsibility is delegated to more than just you and that you can’t overcompensate or control what others are not contributing. I find these 20% problems to be a way I procrastinate dealing with things that are 100% my responsibility, instead getting frustrated that I can’t control what others do when we share responsibilities. Instead of harnessing 100% of my energy to situations that are only 20% my own, I want to focus more on the things that are within my own power.
- What areas of my life or responsibilities are fully within my control but are currently neglected?
- How could I practice letting go of the desire to control other’s contributions to a situation or project?
- What am I gaining or avoiding by focusing all of my energy on shared responsibilities? Is it a way of feeling productive and avoiding other tasks?
Finally, I want to finish this list by wishing to let go of the expectation of how certain things should manifest. Almost nothing in my life has occurred the way I have expected it to, and I think that is part of what makes life so wondrous yet scary. We just kind of have to go about life trusting that we are doing the right things and find out later. But worrying about or expecting certain outcomes I tend to find is honestly just a waste of time. It makes me more focused on the product of the work than the work itself. I want to focus on the quality of actions and how those make me feel rather than what they produce. The actions themselves are what we actually live for. They’re the only guarantee we have.
- In what ways have the surprises and unexpected events in my life led me toward growth or joy?
- How could I practice trusting the journey rather than the destination? How can I stay more rooted in the actions themselves rather than the end results?
- What qualities of the work I do or the experiences I pursue feel genuinely fulfilling?
Just as the seasons shift effortlessly, I’m trying to shift effortlessly, too, though that’s more of a future. Right now it’s taking a bit of effort. However, the effortless nature of these seasonal transitions inspires me to trust the process and embrace as much as I can as life unfolds. To trust the quiet wisdom that this autumn is bringing.