Fall Equinox

Last year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I participated in a reflection project called 10Q.* For ten days, I was sent different questions prompting me to reflect on the year I was leaving and the one that I was entering. The final question was “What are your predictions for the coming year?”  And my answer..."I am wise enough not to make predictions."

Clearly, I wasn’t falling for this trick of a question :). A more witty response would have been “my prediction is that my prediction will miss the mark.”  And a more honest response “my prediction is I will have some health challenges, life will take unexpected turns that will frustrate me and knock me down for a bit (or longer). I will have moments of forward movement towards my work and personal goals, and other moments where I will take two steps back. I predict the year ahead will have some pain, love, difficulties, wins, and lots of opportunity for the mundane.” I am a prediction rooted in honesty and reality person with a dash of feminist utopian ideals (à la Octavia Butler). 

The Jewish High Holidays align with the Fall Equinox this year (welcome to the unpredictable rhythm of a lunar calendar). And with this alignment, I invite you into your own reflection for the coming year. Taking our cue from the natural world, and consider yourself more like a planetary body with its own rhythms and seasons…(expansive, contracting, resting, growing, composting, birthing, hibernating, renewing, destruction, retrograde, eclipsing, etc). Below are some questions to help guide your reflection.  

- What do you want to turn or re-turn towards?
- Where did you miss the mark? And why?
- What do you keep trying to fix that isn’t a fault but your nature? ("Not a Flaw to be corrected but a trait to be accepted", Sherlock on Elementary) 
- When life gets too much what do you need to pull in and what needs to be removed? 
- What ground did you cover last year (or the year before) that you need/want/desire to cover again?
- “What conversation are you not having, and with whom?” (the most brilliant question from Modern Love Story)
-  When you review your reflections how do you feel? What do you notice inside as you review your reflections? What do you struggle to accept about yourself? What do feel proud of? And how in the next year can you bring these two (struggle to accept and proud of) closer together? 

Fall equinox is a pause in the natural world. A moment of balance between night and day. Balance of equal measure isn't the dominating force when we closely examine the natural world. Culturally we have made balance into a strive for perfection in equal measure and it creates a dynamic where culturally we are aiming for something that isn't inherently natural in large quantities. Balance has missed the mark in our culture. Instead of uniformity what about rhythm and harmony? These require less of sameness and are more personalized and dynamic.

Considering this personalization and dynamic nature, maybe this is your season of reflection, or maybe yours is during another time. And if you are the latter, that is beautiful and the questions above will still be here when you enter your reflective season. 

My hope for you (and me) this season is that you have more moments of turning towards the natural world for inspiration on how to live and be in this world.That you find your unique expression and lean deeply into what makes you, you. And with you being YOU, life becomes less of striving and more of an unfolding.

Warmly, 

Valerie 

*10Q was inspired by the traditional ten days of reflection that occur between the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a period of time that’s long been considered an opportunity to look at where you're at, where you've come from, and where you're heading