Falling at the threshold of summer and autumn, September can feel like a rather liminal month. Although meteorological autumn began on 1st September, the season feels more “official” with the coming of the equinox, occurring this year on 23rd September in the UK. The autumn equinox marks one of only two days (the other being the spring equinox) when there is an exact balance between darkness and light. This brief moment of equilibrium reminds us that life is a spectrum, perhaps best reflected in the changing of the trees we see at this time of year: there is new life in the form of fresh berries, but death is also present in the falling of the leaves, and there is a whole range of colours from green to red to yellow and orange in trees that fall somewhere in between. This spectrum and liminality can help us remember that our own lives are very rarely black and white, yet it is easy to put ourselves, other people and events into boxes to try and make sense of them. Nonetheless, this way of viewing the world can be very limiting and prevent us from seeing things clearly and reaching our full potential. At this time of year you could spend some time thinking or journaling about questions relating to these ideas.
With regard to the self:
Do you perceive yourself as being introverted, and never able to be extraverted (or vice versa)? Do you perceive yourself as unproductive (not necessarily a bad thing!), and never able to be hardworking (or vice versa)? Do you perceive yourself as uncreative, and never able to be artistic? Where do you think these beliefs arose from? Consider other opinions of yourself you have and challenge yourself to see whether you can in fact be the opposite.
With regard to goals and dreams:
Do you think that if there is a possibility of not being able to achieve a dream then there is no point working towards it at all? When you face obstacles or limitations relating to your goals or dreams, do you tend to think “this dream isn’t possible for someone like me”? Do you tend to not pursue goals or dreams if you think they are unconventional, or if the way you approach them may be unconventional? Remember that people are capable of achieving great things in the face of sometimes impossible odds, and that there are often many more ways than one of achieving a goal.
With regard to other people:
Do you think you idealise, romanticise or demonise certain people (or groups of people)? You may also realise that you idealise/romanticise certain aspects of one person while demonising other aspects of them (such as by thinking “in this way they are perfect, if only they could change this one annoying thing…”). Why do you think this is? Where did these beliefs come from?
It can be eye-opening to realise how many self-limiting beliefs we hold. Be kind to yourself, as these beliefs were only formed to make sense of yourself and life in a world that can be extremely confusing. You could perhaps set an intention to let these beliefs go as we move towards the winter solstice. At this time of year you may notice spiders, now fully grown, beginning to fly away attached to pieces of cobweb (think of the end of Charlotte’s Webb) as they venture off into the world. Like the spider, you can advance into the unknown as you embody new ways of thinking and perceiving, and creatively weave the web of your own destiny.
