There is something magical about autumn.
The crispness in the air, the familiar smells of fall, the leaves changing into beautiful shades of gold, orange, and red. The trees slowly releasing what they have held throughout the spring and summer.
Nature is preparing for winter.
And perhaps, in our own way, so are we.
Autumn has always felt like more than just another season. There is something stirring beneath the surface. A yearning, a whisper, a feeling that something is shifting within us.
We are entering the in-between.
The space between what was and what will be. Between light and darkness. Between holding on and letting go.
And maybe, just maybe, there is magic in not knowing what comes next.
When the Veil Begins to Thin
As Halloween and Samhain (pronounced SOW-in or SAH-win) approach, we enter a time traditionally associated with the thinning of the veil between the living and the spirit world.
A time when our ancestors feel a little closer.
A time to remember those who walked before us, whose stories, struggles, wisdom, and dreams have become part of the roots from which we grow.
I find myself wondering what they would say if we truly stopped to listen.
Would they tell us to slow down? To stop trying so hard to become something we think we are supposed to be?
Would they remind us of the strength that has traveled through generations?
Or perhaps they would simply sit beside us in the quiet, reminding us that we are never as disconnected as we sometimes feel.
There is something comforting about the thought of speaking to our ancestors, honoring their lives, and allowing ourselves to be curious about the mysteries we cannot always explain.
Not everything needs an answer.
Some things are meant to be felt, explored, and experienced.
What Are You Ready to Release?
Look at the trees.
They do not fight to hold on to every leaf.
They do not question whether they will be beautiful again in the spring.
They simply move with the seasons.
What if we allowed ourselves to do the same?
What are you holding on to that no longer belongs in this season of your life?
Perhaps it is an old belief about who you are supposed to be.
Perhaps it is the expectations of others.
Maybe it is the fear of being seen, of being successful, of allowing your true energy to shine.
Or maybe it is a dream you once had that no longer looks the way you imagined.
I have been thinking about this myself.
The hopes and dreams we carried when we were younger. The lives we imagined we would have. The people we thought we would become.
Where did those dreams go?
I don't believe they all disappear.
I believe some of them change with us.
They take on new shapes, new meanings, and sometimes lead us down paths we never imagined walking.
We are not the same people we were ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.
And why would we want to be?
We have lived. We have loved. We have lost. We have questioned. We have survived.
We have grown.
Maybe letting go isn't about losing something. Maybe it is about making room for what is waiting to grow.
And just like the trees, we do not need to force our leaves to fall.
We can allow them to release when they are ready.
The Darkness Has Its Own Wisdom
As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, we begin moving toward the darker season of the year.
Winter invites us inward.
There is work that can only be done within ourselves. Work that no one else can do for us.
Sometimes that means sitting with the uncomfortable questions.
Who am I becoming?
What am I afraid of?
Why do I sometimes hide the very things that make me who I am?
What would happen if I allowed myself to shine without worrying about whether others understood me?
We often speak about finding the light, but what about the wisdom within the darkness?
The shadows?
The parts of ourselves we have hidden away because someone, somewhere, once told us they were strange, too much, or simply wrong.
Perhaps this season is an invitation to sit with those parts rather than push them away.
To become curious.
To listen.
To remember that darkness does not always mean something is wrong.
Sometimes it is where the seeds rest before they begin to grow.
And remember, we do not have to do all of our healing at once.
Even nature rests.
Embracing the Strange, Wild, and Magical Within
I want to talk about something else.
The fear of being our true selves.
The fear of being seen.
The fear of being successful, not because we don't want success, but because success might mean we can no longer hide.
What happens when we stop making ourselves smaller to fit into the world around us?
What happens when we embrace the strange, weird, wonderful things that make our hearts happy?
The magic.
The mystery.
The connection to the earth, the moon, the stars, and our ancestors.
We are made of elements forged in ancient stars. The atoms that make up our bodies connect us to a universe far older than we can imagine.
How magical is that?
We spend so much of our lives trying to understand where we belong, when perhaps belonging begins with allowing ourselves to be exactly who we are.
Not who someone else wants us to be.
Not who society tells us we should become.
But the beautifully imperfect, curious, wild beings we already are.
A Little Autumn Magic: A Somatic Reflection
Find yourself a quiet place, perhaps outside beneath a tree, beside a window, or somewhere you can feel the changing season.
Notice the air around you.
The sounds.
The smells.
The feeling of the earth beneath your feet.
If it feels comfortable, allow your breathing to settle into its own natural rhythm.
Imagine holding a fallen leaf in your hand.
Let it represent something you have been carrying.
An expectation. A fear. An old story. Something that no longer feels like yours.
You do not need to name it if you are not ready.
Simply notice what comes up within you.
What happens in your body when you imagine letting it go?
Is there tension? Relief? Sadness? Resistance?
All of it is welcome.
And if you choose, gently release the leaf.
Watch as it floats toward the earth.
There is nothing you need to force.
Nothing you need to fix.
You are simply making space for the season you are in.
A Whisper Before Winter
As we move deeper into autumn and toward the quiet darkness of winter, I invite you to embrace a little magic.
Light a candle.
Speak to your ancestors if that is part of your spiritual practice.
Sit beneath a tree.
Listen to the wind.
Question the things you were taught.
Dream new dreams.
Allow old dreams to change.
And please, do not ever be ashamed of loving the strange, weird, magical things that make your heart happy.
You do not have to explain your magic to everyone.
Not everyone will understand it.
And that is okay.
And that is okay.
For you are you, and no one else.
Let the leaves fall. Let the darkness come. Let your light shine.
There is still so much life waiting to grow within you.
And perhaps the greatest magic of all is discovering that you were never meant to become someone else.
You were always meant to become more of yourself.
With warmth, a little magic, and the wisdom of the changing seasons,
Bobbi Jo Hamilton
Northwoods Velvære Studio
