Last week as I wandered through my garden, I noticed that my Monkshood plant was starting to bloom. Just when everything else is looking rather ratty in my garden, this beautiful plant shows off its glorious deep purple-blue flowers. When the Monkshood blooms, there is no denying that summer is ending and autumn is upon us. During these cooler autumn days, I see many plants in my garden closing down – as though they are preparing for the harsh winter ahead. However, Montauk Daisies, Autumn Joy, and Monkshood burst into new life and beautiful blossoms. During the spring and summer, these plants are rather ordinary, as if they don’t want to show off their flashy blooms and compete with the rest of the flowers. But in the autumn, they spring into life.

Whenever autumn shows its face, I don’t feel ready to give up on summer, But the change of seasons causes me to reflect on life’s changes. Watching my plants evolve makes me think about how we too evolve and move into the autumn of our lives, even though we may be in denial about that.

Our Western society fears the aging process and rarely values the wisdom or the beauty of people who are elders. Indeed, we too aren’t very good at identifying and appreciating the possibilities for growth and joy as we grow older. We may not be aware how lovely we can be as we move into the autumn of life – like my lovely autumn flowers.

Yes, life is very brief and growing shorter every day. No matter how old we are, we might not have a whole lot of time ahead of us. So we need to be careful about what we choose to do with our precious days on earth. This autumn we may want to ponder how we will use our remaining time on earth and what we hold as sacred. Instead of moving thoughtlessly from day to day, wearily checking our to-do lists, trying to fortify ourselves against the world’s problems, and wondering whether we are truly alive, perhaps we can choose to live our life as if we are in the autumn of life. Maybe the sense of ‘impermanence’ will heighten our feelings of preciousness and gratitude. And we might choose to live life beautifully – like the autumn flowers in my garden.

Creator of Seasons, thank you so much for autumn flowers and for seasons that remind us that we too might be in the autumn of our life. May we choose to live life fully and beautifully with joy and gratitude – no matter how much time we have left to live. Help us to learn from the autumn flowers. Amen.

Joy Carol

www.joycarol.com