The Friday News Minute!
A weekly gem of information you will be using on Monday!
Published by Andrew Sanderbeck
Managing Partner of The People~Connect Institute
www.peopleconnectinstitute.com
Success Begins when People~Connect!
This week in my Friday News Minute, I have an article to share with you about my favorite time of the year...autumn. In this article from Eileen Lawlor, you'll learn more about autumn on a spiritual level and she'll remind you to stop and enjoy the show of colors. I'm currently in Mississippi wrapping up a week of workshops on Coaching Employees and as I have been driving this week I am beginning to see the first signs of a wonderful month ahead...and it brings me great joy! - Andrew
Fall generates emotional change
How do you feel in the fall? Invigorated? Melancholy? The feelings evoked by the dying leaves are as varied as the colors that coat the trees like short-lived butterflies.
“We all respond to color, because color is vibration,” says Canyon Ranch in Lenox Behavioral Health Therapist Eileen Lawlor, M.S.W. “Red and orange are warmer colors. They tend to enliven us – or, in a negative way, agitate us. Like a fire, they heat us up.” When brilliant colors take over from soft greens, some people see them as “unsettling,” she says, yet “others find them playful and whimsical.”
Why do leaves behave so spectacularly? The color you see depends on which part of the spectrum is being absorbed and what’s reflected away. Leaves have lots of chlorophyll in spring and summer, making them reflect green. In the fall, chlorophyll recedes and summer green turns to golden-yellow or blazing red as carotenoids and antioxidants have their moment on stage. It’s all part of a process that reminds us of the power and mystery in nature – and in ourselves.
A time to turn inward
Nature’s yearly show puts the “awe” into autumn. “Fall is like looking at the night sky,” says Lawlor. “We look at the grandeur and become more conscious of our own humanity and the ‘I’ in relation to our planet Earth.”
And what if you live in the desert Southwest, where hostile stickers are more common than frantic foliage? Even in places where the landscape stays much the same year-round, fall is a time of change and introspection, she says. It’s a time of endings – and new beginnings. School starts again, bringing all the excitement of new notebooks and pencils, new clothes and new teachers, along with the chance to turn over a new leaf and be a better student. The air cools, turning thoughts to lighting fires, picking apples, creating cinnamon smells in the kitchen and preparing for the holidays.
No matter where you live, the spiritual landscape of autumn can stir your psyche, says Lawlor. Tribal peoples have always observed the four seasons with reverence: spring and fall equinox and summer and winter solstice were honored with rituals and ceremonies. After the new life of spring comes the fullness of summer, symbolizing abundance, laughter and outdoor life. “Fall is harvest, maturity, ripening,” as we prepare to draw inward for the winter, she says. “In the dark of winter, we can see the spiritual light most clearly … the subconscious is more available to you – whereas summer is an extroverted season so we tend to focus outward.”
Look back, learn and move on
Metaphorically, says Lawlor, “Fall is time to batten down hatches. We’re closing down the garden; taking stock, getting prepared for the inner journey to follow. In autumn, we let people, places and things go, just as the trees let the leaves go. We shed things: ideas, attitudes, beliefs.” You may not be ready to let go, but “the season will demand that we let go, as does our psyche.
“We go through our regrets and celebrate our positive experiences, taking their lessons into our spirit. Sometimes the lessons are painful – maybe there have been losses in the course of the year. We distill our experiences, select what’s most meaningful and let the rest fall away. Summer is like a three-ring circus; there’s always a lot going on. Fall is the grand finale before we leave the big top.”
It’s common to experience sadness when you watch the red and gold of autumn turn to brown as the leaves die and fall, says Lawlor. “As a therapist, I encourage people to attend to their melancholy, yet acknowledge the richness of experience. All feelings are aspects of ourselves. Wistfulness, sorrow, sadness, as well as joy, are all part of the package of being human.” Try to honor those feelings and go with them, Lawlor suggests. “Live into whatever you are experiencing – it will strengthen you, and you will move into acceptance and understanding. ... You’re being called inward for another round of rebirth.”
Whether fall represents for you a time of spiritual house-cleaning, a relief from summer sun set permanently on “high,” or simply the greatest show on Earth, it’s time to get out there and soak it up. Poised between the yin and yang of sunglasses and snow blowers, it’s a magical time to pause, look back over the year and glory in the enchantment that is autumn.
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Free Webinar -- Register Today!
| Conflict in a Peaceful Library from Andrew Sanderbeck and WebJunction | |
| Event Type: Webinar Date: 10/15/2008 Start Time: 1:00 PM Description:
UPDATE: The date has changed for this webinar! This webinar will now begin at 1 PM Central on October 15.
Conflict happens! Many of us try to avoid it, some fight with it, some seem to enjoy it and still others seem to handle it with tact and skill. What’s the secret to effectively handling situations of conflict? How can we de-emotionalize ourselves to the situations so that we don’t get caught up in them? Join Andrew Sanderbeck as he explores our dealings with others in the library by defining the conflict situation and using one of three approaches to successfully handle or resolve it. If you don’t like to be yelled at by other people, you’ll really enjoy this fun and interactive webinar |
To register, follow this link: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1503