Soaking it in

In the Fall I'm always surprised by the colors of the leaves. After 40 autumns, you would think this would be old-hat to me, but instead it reminds me how much I love this time of year. How I enjoy the cooler weather, the sun shining brightly but differently, the turning and the changing of the leaves. I want to stop time. I want to drink it all in. I want to soak it up and hold on to the feeling and the vibrancy as long as I can.

It happens to all of us throughout the day or the week, that we are amazed or delighted by something that happens. But often, when going through a difficult time, those moments are washed away by all that remains of anguish or heartache. We can't remove those difficulties altogether, but maybe we can lessen the hurt by trying to hold on to all that we soaked in before.

When we revel in something wondrous or beautiful or astonishing we add just a little to our soul. We allow our heart to open, we allow our passion to shine, we allow ourselves the freedom to be and feel delicious and full. When we immerse ourselves in something like a cool and sunny and colorful Fall day, we remind ourselves that our younger and more vulnerable self still exists. That part of us who, in elementary school, would rub a leaf to burn a design onto a sheet of paper. We can look back and feel back and be back to what we once were and we are reminded that we can still be that person again- we still are that person inside; we just lost touch for a minute.

So embrace and embed and immerse yourself in a moment or two of something you love and cannot believe is true. A piece of music, a well-written word, a day described in storybooks. Remind yourself of the delight of what is, of what is before you, of what exists in your world. Hold on to that with both arms tightly and close your eyes and breathe in. Take it all and bury it inside your soul; and when you need it, and when you feel dark or sad, you can remind yourself that somewhere in your soul you have this joy. You can remind yourself that the light you want and the hope you seek is inside of you whenever you need; and somehow, just knowing that it's there, will keep you moving forward toward the next light. 

This is the life.
-a

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