One dictionary defines harvest as the season for gathering.
I immediately think of farms and festivals. The farmers, more than anyone else, nourish our connection to the land and, as a result, the connection to ourselves. It is a glorious season to revel in the results of all the work, time and energy expended over the summer. The festivals of autumn are dazzling to behold and a delight to be part of. They are the last bright flicker of activity celebrating the abundance of summer and of life before we transition into the quiet, stillness of dark winter. The cycles of life serve to remind us that our simple existence continues.
It is easy to see how the harvesting of things outside ourselves is the great culmination of a summer well spent. All that we can see and touch and taste represents the bounty of hard work. We gather the last fruits and vegetables, the last flowers, the last chance to wear shorts. These are the things that join us together in celebration. Is it the coming together as community in acknowledgment of what we have done and what we will have to go through before spring’s return.
Autumn is also the time to harvest and gather that which is inside us. Our thoughts, our goals, our reflections of the year past and our dreams for the year to come are more personal and self-directed. Usually available only to those most dear to us, they make up the intangible part of ourselves that will sustain us and give us hope through the dark and cold and long winter nights ahead.
Enjoy the festivals of the season and remind yourself that there is a lot to be grateful for. Inside and out.
Here’s to the Health of your Life.