What is it about Autumn?

Autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, or time for sadness and colds?

How can the closing down of the year be attended by such a fantastic display of colour and exuberance and then be followed by bare trees and sadness?

For me, autumn is a poignant paradox. I feel the oncoming cold of winter, but the earth is still warm; I feel the sadness of plants dying in the garden, but the beauty of the trees as they prepare to lose their summer green; I notice the damp in my nose and throat and the folks around me catching colds, but I so enjoy walking in the glorious fall.

Autumn is traditionally a time to get rid of your rubbish, have a good clear out and make right and tight for the winter. Farmers want to be sure they have brought in the harvest and have it safely stored by now. If it is not, we are in for some hard times come spring. They clear and prepare the land for spring sowing. The work we do now, as most gardeners know, will more than repay us next year. Can this be true at many different levels? Is there also an internal process of tidying up and letting go?

In Chinese medicine, the organs associated with autumn are lungs and bowels. More rubbish is exhaled from the body than is released at the other end. What about your bowels, are they letting go? What about your breath, can you exhale and let go of the tension which causes many of us to hold our breath? Why do so many people get colds and various illnesses at this time of year?

With all this letting go, I find this is a time when I remember those I have lost and mourn them anew. If I have really done my grieving and completed the process (a scab will grow over the pain in time, but there will always be a scar) then I am grateful for having had them and can remember the good times and love with a joyful, sad nostalgia.

Why do we make sadness and grief wrong? We love sad movies which make us cry, but many find crying for themselves almost impossible. Many of us still subscribe to the 'big boys don't cry' school of thought and we wonder why those held back tears cause so much chest disease in men.

I have always thought of myself as a summer girl, but now, in the autumn of my years I am feeling at one with this lovely season.

Frankie x