Beauty Unfolding

Dear Reader,

I am writing at the end of October, my favorite time of year. Even though the Autumn colors were expected to be less brilliant this year here in Maine – perhaps because of warmer weather and lack of rain – but the show has been amazing. And, even though the leaves are supposed to be way past peak at this point, the show continues.

The turning of the foliage this year has unfolded like a love poem from nature, sometimes subtle and gentle and at other times, bold, dashing and so unexpected it takes your breath away. Around here, the bold red came first, and now we are left with lingering yellow and vivid gold.

Words cannot describe how grateful I am to live in an area that takes on the quality of a fairy land each year at this time. Every time I walk outside, or even look out the window, I look with eager curiosity, wondering what miraculous combination of light and color will catch my eye next. For the past several mornings at sunrise, I have watched the mountain turn a glowing magenta-purple as it catches the rising sun’s rays first, before any of the land or water around it.

This Autumn activity is profoundly beautiful.

But here’s the thing…

Aren’t we human beings, with all our hopes and dreams, words and deeds, equally as beautiful?

Are we not as majestic as the trees that express their “treeness” in natural cycles, culminating with blazes of color before going bare, only to recuperate and bud again in the Spring?

I look around, and I see all of us humans doing our best to make sense of the world, to understand ourselves, and to express our inner nature in the lives we create. Sometimes we fall short, mess up, become disheartened – and lie fallow, before trying again to express our true nature.

Isn’t that a beautiful unfolding too?

I think so.

We human beings are, after all,  just as much a part of nature as the trees.

Dear reader, sometime challenge yourself to look around and see the great beauty in your fellow beings, just as if you were contemplating the beauty of the Autumn leaves. Take in the faces, the words spoken, the actions taken. And try to take in all you see of humanity, even the parts that on first glance don’t seem so beautiful. Know that those challenging aspects of ourselves are just part of a bigger unfolding, leading us somewhere better.

I honor your loving heart,

John