Before lowering down to my cushion this morning for meditation I stood awestruck, staring out the window through little rivulets of raindrops racing down the glass. Despite our small valley being completely engulfed by this first December storm, a luminosity from the rising sun washed gold hues through the atmosphere. Sipping hot water, I watched the arms and boughs of the verdant, California laurel trees reach upward, swaying in an ecstatic slowdance as the rain washed over their smooth leaves – yearning and receiving. Nature’s perfect union.
Right next to the pungent laurels, the plum trees shed their last few leaves of the season. Now copper, molten and auburn in color, a couple straggler leaves were left hanging in limbo before the inevitable spiral down to the earth. All things have a season. All things. Even though the laurel leaves hold strong to their bright greens, even though they can grow upwards of four feet a year, regardless of their intricate root structures that plunder into the precious water table below, they too, someday, someday, will find their season complete.
All of prakriti (the matter of all nature), in all its forms, eventually finds the end of its season – be it a tree, a flower, a home or loved one. This is an inevitable cycle that no matter escapes as it returns back into the earth. Even our thoughts, relationships, and breath will cycle back into the great cosmic mystery of it all, churned into mulch and fertilizer for whatever manifestation arises next.
As we round the final bend of 2022, what lessons, challenges and learnings will you mulch into the necessary nutrients for the dreams you want to manifest in the year to come? What stories, jobs, relationships and experiences have run their course and now are ready for transformation? What has served you up until this point but is now ready to be composted to create rich humus for tomorrow’s adventure – your inevitable evolution? Where will you stop holding so tightly, finally releasing bound up creative energy to create what comes next?
As winter draws near, culminating in the northern hemisphere, the end of the lunar year is a potent time to honor the season of all things. Transform the loss, heartache and challenges of this year into ashen reminders to live fully and freely while you can. Spread these sacred ashes of 2022’s lessons to nourish all that is waiting to be brought forth, that which only you can bring forth in this great season of your life.
Onward!
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti,
Nat K