I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
Anne of Green Gables
L. M. Montgomery
Me too!
Most Sundays after church and then lunch at Turtle Bread Bakery where we read the New York Times, I head to the garret and make my lists for the week and then write my Tuesday post. This most recent Sunday afternoon, however, I abandoned the garret to enjoy the most beautiful of October days.
Come, walk with me!
Just as there may be an age when each of us comes into our own, I think there are seasons when homes and neighborhoods come into their own. As much as I love seeing everyone's gardens restored into new life in the spring and then grow into summer's fullness, this neighborhood seems born for fall. All it takes is a pumpkin or two to wrap a home in coziness. What may have even felt a bit drab and stuck in brown and beige becomes alive.
I marvel at the color--and wonder if the person who dared to combine deep pink mums in a bright orange pot, has bright colored walls and upholstery inside the house as well, or does the awareness that winter white will soon dominate push a last gasp of deliberate and intense color?
Speaking of gasps--what about the presence of ghouls and ghosts and skeletons in the neighborhood? I delight in the creativity, the time and effort all in the name of holiday and seasonal celebration. No one is paid for the planning and work involved, and yet here they are--these generous gifts of the imagination.
Many neighbors are busy raking leaves, preparing the gardens for sleep, and others are walking dogs, scrunching through leaf-covered sidewalks. I pass a couple, older than me. We smile and greet each other and the man tips his hat to me. Now when was the last time that happened? So civilized, so polite.
In the backyard of a corner home, a woman hangs laundry on the clothesline, and I can smell the freshness, almost the healthiness in the air. I pass other homes dominated by For Sale signs in their front yards and wish them well. Been there, done that! I hope the transition to the next season of their lives goes well.
This is a time to consider my inner change of seasons as well. The leaves are a kind of insulation, leading me into quiet, and as the leaves fall gently, but deliberately, there is an invitation to let go. To slow down.
Monday morning, a cold and rainy morning, I returned to the garret where my To Do list waited for me. Waited for me patiently without judgment or punishment. How glad I am I enjoyed the most beautiful of October days.
"Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dance on a windy day." Shira Tamir.
An Invitation
How does October live in you? I would love to know.
When I forwarded the picture of our grandson on his first day of school to a friend, she responded, "How did this happen?" I thought to myself, "It's magic." Well, of course, it isn't. He is growing day by day, and the years pass, and he is five years old, going on six, and he is ready for school. The way of the world.
But I like thinking of the magic involved in his transformation from his glorious entry into the world to confidently walking up the steps and through the doors to his kindergarten classroom.
Magic and Transformation
Magic, after all, involves transformation from one thing to another.
Remember the fairy tales. Straw into gold. Magic beans overnight becoming a beanstalk reaching far into the sky. The wave of a magic wand creating something that wasn't there only a moment ago. Pumpkins into coaches and white mice into horses to take Cinderella to the ball. Hocus pocus and Bippity-boppity boo!
We are all magic-makers.
When did you help turn someone's tears into laughter or cans of ingredients into a healthy, warming soup or when did you realize an acquaintance was becoming a friend? When did you find the missing keys or coast into the gas station on empty? When did you find just the right words to soothe someone's aching heart and when did you wake up in the morning with a clear answer to a troubling quandary?
October as a Time of Magic
October is a wonderful time to think about the presence of magic
in your life. Yes, I know it is a natural cycle for the leaves to change colors and drop off the trees and for birds to begin their migration south and for squirrels to begin hoarding nuts for winter, but it all seems like magic to me. And is there anything more magical than pumpkins becoming Jack O'Lanterns and being lit up on front porches everywhere? How much more magical could it be than to put on a costume or a mask or a witch's hat and for a few short hours be someone else? Someone with magic powers.
Discover Your Own Magic
Sarah Ban Breathnach in her bestseller of many years ago, Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3495853.Sarah_Ban_Breathnach says, "Isn't it magic what you're performing when you create an authentic lifestyle for yourself and for those you love? Aren't you shaping unseen forces with your creativity and soul crafts, bringing into the physical world through passion what has only existed in the spiritual realm? If you can do this unconsciously, how much more could you accomplish if you were fully aware of your powers?"
We deserve to re-discover the magic within ourselves. The magic that lives inside of us is the ability and desire to bring our sacred essence into its fullest expression--to be all we were created to be.
We become aware of our powers by attending to spiritual practices that help us open our hearts. When we sit in the quiet of sacred space and ask the Divine to whisper reminders of the magic that is possible in our lives and when we open our eyes to the magic all around us, and when we are grateful for the magic of being alive, we embody magic ourselves.
"Magic is what happens when you have encountered the Divine. It is the life-altering experience of connecting to the divinity that dwells within yourself and in the world." Phyllis Curott
Your life is your magic.
An Invitation
When and where have you experienced magic in your life? What spiritual practices enhance your awareness of magic in your life? How has "magic" helped you connect to the Divine? I love the magic of a conversation and hope you will choose to comment on this post.
The first Thursday of each month I will offer you a meditation to use during that month. Here is the meditation for October.
If you are afraid of something, you give it power.
Moroccan Proverb
October is the month of ghosts and goblins. This is the month in which being scared is supposed to be fun, and opportunities to scare someone else are expected.
I remember my toddler daughter or son holding on to my pant leg when I answered the door on Halloween night. I would move forward with the big graniteware bowl overflowing with candy in my arms, and Kate perhaps in her Wonder Woman pajamas or Geof in his Superman ones would peek around the door. They wanted to see what or who was on the front porch, but did they really? They were fearful, but also, fascinated and attracted to the realm of the scary at the same time. I think they knew real people, perhaps even people they knew, were behind the vampire mask or underneath the flowing white sheet, but at the moment they wanted to experience it from a safe distance.
The next year, however, they started talking about Halloween costumes in the summer and eventually, they were the ones ringing the doorbell and dashing off to the next house laughing and teasing each other about "being so scared!"
What happened to their fear? When did the fear become something to conquer? How did they know that being scared need not prevent them from moving forward?
Fear and You
What about you? When have you been afraid? What have you done to conquer that fear? And was it worth it?
At some time or another we are all afraid. After all, the human condition is scary. The question is, however, what do we do with the fear we experience? Is it possible to replace fear with faith? What would that look like in your life?
A Meditation on the Role of Fear In Your Life
I invite you to sit in a quiet place and close your eyes, lightly, not tightly. Take a couple deep cleansing breaths and allow your body to relax into slow, even breathing.
In this quiet, sacred, and safe place you create for yourself, invite a memory of when you were afraid as a child to appear. That memory is in the distance, outside of your safe place.
Note the feelings you experienced then without feeling them now. That was then, this is now. You are safe, and there is no need to relive any fear you experienced as a child. Instead, that long ago fear can be your teacher.
If you feel your body tense, especially in your shoulders, hands, or belly, remember to breathe deeply and fully and remember you are in a sacred and safe place. Remember, too, that you can open your eyes whenever you choose.
As you continue to breathe steadily and evenly, look at the fear. If that fear is no longer in your life, how did you conquer it? How did conquering that fear teach you to respond to other fears in your life?
As you continue to breathe steadily and evenly, ask your heart to open to the possibility of releasing any fear that has room in your life now. What would that feel like? Be with that awareness and the feelings that surround the desire to live life with less fear.
What do you need to move beyond and through fear? Imagine yourself with the courage to unlearn fears and the ability to seek help. Imagine trusting your own inner wisdom. Open to these possibilities.
Once again, take a couple deep cleansing, breaths and open your eyes, feeling safe and free.
Take a few minutes to note, perhaps in a journal or by whispering to yourself, what you felt or learned during this brief time of meditation. What will you now bring into your life?
A Blessing
May you trust your inner courage and wisdom.
May fears be your teacher and lead you to a life in which you achieve your highest vision of yourself.
May you feel surrounded by a spirit of growth and mindfulness, recognizing fear as a basic human emotion, which can lead us to the miracle of faith and love.
Resources For Further Exploration
1. Radical Acceptance, Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach, Ph.D, especially chapter seven, "Opening Our Heart in the Face of Fear."
2. The Right Questions, Ten Essential Questions to Guide You to an Extraordinary Life by Debbie Ford, especially chapter twelve, "Is This an Act of Faith or Is It an Act of Fear?"
3. Healing Through the Dark Emotions, The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair by Miriam Greenspan, especially chapter seven "From Fear to Joy."
4. Fear and Other Uninvited Guests, Tackling the Anxiety, Fear, and Shame That Keep us from Optimal Living and Loving by Harriet Lerner, Ph.D.
An Invitation
I welcome your thoughts about the role of fears in your life and also your comments about the meditation.
I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." 
I marvel at the color--and wonder if the person who dared to combine deep pink mums in a bright orange pot, has bright colored walls and upholstery inside the house as well, or does the awareness that winter white will soon dominate push a last gasp of deliberate and intense color?
