Just Fall

I watched a leaf fall off one of my big trees in the back yard this morning.  It was truly beautiful to witness.  There wasn’t a gust of wind to force it off.  It was so quiet outside that I even heard it crack off the branch.  I watched as it softly drifted down and landed on its new home, the ground.  The whole experience felt so peaceful and there was a sense of knowing that seemed to encompass me. 

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More importantly, I noticed that the leaf didn’t have to think about falling or even try to calculate where exactly it was going to land.  It didn’t try to prolong its time on the tree, holding on to the branch trying to become greener.  It didn’t even do a Google search on the perfect time to fall or ask its numerous friends if they thought it was a good idea.  It...just…fell. 

It seems to me that people love this time of year; I know I do.  However, I often wonder why.  Is it seeing the beautiful colors as the landscape changes?  Is it the crispness in the air?  Is it the pumpkins being harvested and carved?   Yes, I am sure it is all of that but even more, I believe this love of fall can be attributed to the feeling of pure and natural change that seems to be all around us.

Fall time feels like change that isn’t necessarily asked for but just effortlessly happens.  So often in our lives, we resist change and long for everything to stay the same.  We hold tightly to our routines and schedules and get increasingly frustrated when something seems to start to move in another direction. 

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As I watched this leaf fall, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it would be if every change in my life could be that beautiful.  If every single movement could just feel like the next logical step.  I imagined what peace I would feel if I would just allow, trust, and perhaps even welcome what is next to come into my world without any resistance. 

I stood there in my backyard and thought about how many times I have looked back (after the fact) and been utterly grateful for a specific change that happened in my life.   Unfortunately, at the time it was all happening, I fought it tooth and nail.  In fact, I cursed every last piece of it.  And now, as I see where I stand and what I learned, I couldn’t be happier that it happened.  

This was so interesting to me.  What would happen if we just trusted in the movement of our lives and just let it all fall where it may?   What would happen if that peace and gratitude we feel much later on could be moved into the moment that change is actually happening?  My belief is that we would see the perfection of it all.   We would find that bliss we all seem to be looking for in ourselves first instead of looking for it specific events and answers.   We would stop waiting for all of the pieces to fall into place before we feel true joy and appreciation for our lives.   

I guess we would…just…fall.