If you take some time to sit quietly in nature, you notice a subtle seasonal shift happening during the month of August. The light softens, flowers and fruits grow heavy and begin to droop, the days are long and less hurried, the rivers and streams mellow to a slow flow, and a sense of spaciousness enters our lived experience. We transition from the fiery heat of summer through the earthy centering of late summer and down into the moody depths of Autumn. This transition from Yang to Yin represents an important opportunity for folks wishing to work with seasonal energies in their inner development. While the fire element supports outward connection, growth and experience, the earth element of late summer supports the transformation that comes with digesting those outward experiences. Between each season, we return to the center within ourselves and reflect on the lessons of the previous months. The Autumn then offers the chance to move inwards, harvesting the essence of our experiences, letting go of unnecessary attachments, connecting with the essential in life and working on the unseen, shadowy parts of ourselves. By following this natural spiral unfolding of the seasons, we continue to grow in wisdom, year after year, deepening our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.
The world is very loud these days. As a social tool, technology platforms are designed to keep your attention at all cost, operating with the understanding that the attention economy offers infinite growth potential and unlimited resource. The faster it moves, the more addictive it becomes. The hidden underbelly of rewiring our brains is that we lose the capacity to deeply understand the meaning of our experiences. This profoundly limits human growth while simultaneously conditioning us to believe that we must produce, consume and DO at a faster rate. However, authentic action arises out of BEING and requires our understanding our deeper motives. We must understand who we are before meaningful action can take place.
The principal obstacle to consciousness is the wandering mind, and I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to concentrate and stay connected to a living presence within if I’m constantly “plugged into” the frenetic pace of our current society. Actively engaging the elements as a mode of self-reflection is one key that opens the doorway to the mysteries of emotional, psychosomatic and psychospiritual transformation.
Value and Worth
The metal element is all about our relationship to the value we place on different aspects of our life, including our sense of self-worth. I have a four year old son who teaches me a lot about being present. If I’m on my phone, or distracted, he often says “wake up Dada.” Like the Myna Birds in Aldous Huxley’s book The Island, he consistently brings my awareness to my attention. How we use our attention determines our ability to value our experiences. In simpler terms, if I’m distracted, rushed, bored, focused on the future, or day-dreaming about the past, I’m unable to recognize the incredible opportunity to spend time with my son and connect more deeply with him. I fail to value the opportunities that the moment presents, and to enjoy his endless curiosity. When we place value outside the moment in front of us, we are disconnected from the only place we can find real value- the here and now.
When we are disconnected from our own intrinsic worth, we are constantly running around trying to find ourselves in external experiences. In the natural world, there is rhythm and motion, but not time in the conventional sense that we use it. The clock and the ruler are abstract. They are made-up social conventions that create a great deal of anxiety for humans. Even when there’s not an “important” event on the horizon, we habitually rush about, unable to enjoy the moment as it is. Deep within ourselves, we are aware that we are the continuum within which all phenomena occurs, and not a strict identity with deadlines, to-do lists, and images to uphold. We invest tremendous emotional energy in maintaining and growing our personal identity in the world, and stressing about “the future,” when in fact, time is simply a social institution and not a physical reality. Spending time with the stars, mountains, clouds, rivers and other living organisms, we see that there are rhythms and motion. However, there is no such “thing” as time in the natural world. All of life breathes, accepting the moment as it presents itself, rather than constantly opining, preferring, craving and wishing things to be other than they are. Acceptance is a posture that is full, alive, present to life and an active welcoming of whatever is happening.
Spend “time” connecting with the way that you value yourself, your sense of worth, your place in the world. These practices can illuminate the underlying beliefs that drive your “doing” in life. In the Autumn, nature teaches us the art of letting go, just as the trees let go of leaves, creating more spaciousness for the light to pass through. By letting go of what’s unnecessary and recognizing that the leaves become fertilizer, we become less attached. The more present we are with the here and now, the less we are attached to what has happened or what we imagine will happen. What can you accept more fully? What’s difficult to accept? What lies in the way of accepting things as they are right now?
Shadow Work
In Taoist medicine, the Metal season is the Autumn. Metal is cold, condensed, contracted and yin. During this time of the year, the earth becomes dry, cold and sparse. Like crystals, precious metals, minerals and hidden mists, the spirit of metal is fond of the secrecy and shadows of the cave world. In the microcosm of the body, the natural habitat of the metal spirit is in the depths of our being, the intestines- the deepest parts of our bodies- and in the mysterious labyrinth of the unconscious. The invisible breath, managed by the lungs, is affected by the seasonal changes. The breath is connected to our animal body, our primal instincts, our deep somatized emotional experience and the archetypal realm. This time of year is perfect for what the psychoanalyst Carl Jung called Shadow Work. The best resource I’ve found on shadow work is a series of essays edited by Connie Zweig called Meeting the Shadow- The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature.
Shadow work is confronting and challenging, operating under the general approach of “I’d rather be whole than good.” Generally, the shadow can be described as any aspect of the Self that we disavow or disapprove of, all the aspects of ourselves that we repressed or suppressed in the process of enculturation. We all wear the mask of civility, which is why meeting our shadow is destablizing. It tears a hole in the the mask and displaces our sense of self. In the process of conforming to the social order so that we can be accepted by the group, we repress many aspects of ourselves. Further, we carry generational karma, family and collective shadows. We cling to personal identity that is based on imposed values because it ensures social survival. Repression of the shadow is energetically expensive and draining; the repressed energy comes out in myriad ways: criticism, irascibility, control issues, eating disorders, envy, fear of criticism, being right, possessiveness, codependency, rage, substance abuse, addiction, detachment and bullying. While a full exploration of the shadow obviously exceeds the scope of this pamphlet, this time of year is ideal for this type of inner work. Hidden within the shadow is tremendous creative potential and energy.
One very powerful way to work with the shadow is to look at your projections. Every time you find yourself criticizing others, ask yourself, “in what ways do I also have those qualities.” Seek the gold in the shadow through the mantra, “You spot it, you got it.” You are more than you believe yourself to be. Give yourself consent to shine.
Further Reflections on Value and Fragility
How can one finite, fragile life be meaningful in an eternal, infinite universe? This important philosophical question is central to understanding the significance and preciousness of a human life, and our collective value. We inhabit one planet spiraling around a star amidst 400 billion stars in one galaxy, among 2 trillion galaxies in a tiny corner of the known universe. We’re an infinitesimally small collection of atoms, like the atoms that make up the stars, but humans share a profoundly unique characteristic in that we think and feel reflectively. So far as we know, in this massive universe we are the only living creatures through which the universe can understand itself. We make music, architecture, culture, stories, and civilizations. For millions of lightyears in every direction, we are the only planet that does this, which makes us unimaginably valuable. Further, the chances of you being born are 1 in 4 trillion, a statistical near impossibility. Knowing all this, we must ask ourselves, “what are we doing with our lives if we are the way that the universe knows itself, and if the earth is the most valuable place in the known universe?” As you may have surmised by now, one of the ways that I believe we can embody this knowing is to try and live in harmony with and learn from Nature. Some metal questions worth asking are: “How do I respond when told that I’m infinitely valuable just the way I am right now? Am I balanced between body and spirit? To what extent do I need recognition and acknowledgement from outside? How easy is it to acknowledge others?”