metaphor: leaves changing colors in fall
20 Oct 2022
DENISTANGNEYJR // GETTY IMAGES
earlier this week, i was in our space council meeting and checking in with sabrina n. about what first month of fall was bringing to my awareness. i looked outside and saw the leaves and this thought came to me: right before the leaves on many trees fall off for the year*, they have a final blazingly bright hurrah. when most leaves come out in spring, they are green. they stay green for most of the year; growing, gathering light, turning sunlight into food. but then just before winter they do this fascinating act of changing colors, mostly red and yellow. and then they fall. it feels as if they are saying “here’s one last fireworks show. and now you’ll see me next year.”
this feels like an apt metaphor for how fall itself feels to me, in terms of both work and community/social connections. during spring and summer, things definitely have an ebb and flow but are mostly stable (and fast). in fall, things actually pick up before they slow down.
i love to forget this. i love to imagine that sept 21 will feel like nov 21 but it never does.
but it’s good to learn from the leaves. how might leaning into this teaching support how i structure my year? how might it impact my work flows before i slow down for the winter? my plans to connect with my people before i start taking more and more time to be inwardly reflective?
farmers know this pattern. fall harvest is a big time and then things get much much quieter and slower as the season winds down. what can i learn here from my farmer friends as well as from the leaves?
* for trees that have leaves that change colors
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