I have been remiss at doing my weekly blog posts. The mundane busyness of life won over my commitment to myself to blog weekly…if that makes sense. I will be the first to admit in my desire to balance my life, I can keep adding things to the scales to “re-balance.” I think a wise teacher would suggest removing things. Something to think about in another post. I started back to work today after a week of vacation where I spent a couple of days at the beach. The Oregon Coast never ceases to offer me lessons. This lesson is what I am offering today:

The warmth in the car and late summer’s 70+ degree weather almost persuaded me to not taking my sweatshirt to the beach. A tempestuous wind proved my choice to tuck it into my pack wise, and I was soon struggling against a strong force to slip my arms into the sleeves. It wasn’t a relaxing walk, but still nourishing as salt air entered my sea-hungry pores. There was an abundance of gulls, most choosing to stick close to the sand and not fight the wind. I am not a gull expert so I am making an assumption when I think many were young, their brown-toned feathers less worn by weather than their white and gray elders.

The season is post Labor Day and though it is a Friday afternoon, the crowds one saw in August have dissipated, as if blown inland. The gulls, maybe in anticipation that their easy prey of organic fish crackers and gourmet sand-crusted hotdogs have left with the crowds, are gathering at the water’s edge. Dancing to the beat of mischievous ebbing (or is it incoming?) water, the young ones slap the water, rapid fire, with their feet, heads bowing into the waves. Their elders occasionally join in without the urgency. Perhaps this is a rite of passage—their initial supplication dance to the Goddess of Tidbits to get them through the winter. They have not yet learned to trust the rhythm of the seasons.

The rhythm of the seasons. There are times I think I finally can flow from one season to the next only to find myself startled by a late summer or early winter. When I think I have my life “balanced,” only to find a week or two has passed by and I scarcely remember a moment. So much for being present. Fortunately there are ample opportunities to come back into awareness and I can appreciate this moment.

As summer comes to a close and nights draw in, a few questions to consider: What are you noticing about the rhythms in your life? Are you feeling out of balance? What needs Nurturing? Healing? Creating? or Exploring in you this season?

And a reminder: my workshop, Journey Through Loss: Exploring Grief and Loss through the Archetype of the Labyrinth is Oct. 2nd, 1-5p in inner SE Portland. There is still room! http://www.nurtureyourjourney.net/workshop-schedule/2016/10/2/journey-through-loss-exploring-grief-and