Embark on a journey through the captivating contradictions of autumn: a season of gratitude for the bountiful harvest and a reflection of nature’s inevitable decay. Relish in the experience of exploring the leaves of fall as they relate to the spirituality of aging.
I The Genesis of Autumn
The green of summer has come and gone
Watch the beauty as it falls
The wind blows leaves of red and gold
They slice the air with gentle hands
And upon the earth they land
The old Latin word autumnus was adopted by the Romans who named a god Autumnus. In the 1300s the word meaning “season or god of the harvest” came into the English language. The English added to Autumn the phrase “fall of the leaves” and in the 1600s they shortened the phrase to the word “Fall.”
Autumn, a time to be thankful for the harvest of plenty, ripening, and abundance while paradoxically being a symbol of decay, decline, and even death. It is associated with things just at the end of their prime, facing winter, and the hope of renewal in the Spring. There is a unique beauty in the Fall as leaves turn to yellow, orange, red and brown.
II Our Personal Autumns
The Hoarder,
The one in us that wants to keep,
To hold on, must be killed.
— Joseph Cambell, Reflections on the Art of Living
It can feel like we are hopelessly slow to change, wanting to hold on to what is, while knowing we are not the same today as we were a year ago or yesterday. In fact, we are infinitesimally different than we were a moment ago.
As the trees, we all go through many autumns in our lives, unceasing and unstoppable cycles of life that are beyond our control. Attitude determines how we experience and feel about inevitable unprompted changes, our personal autumns. Autumn may initiate reflection on what has been lost—relationship changes, diminished physical strength, children leaving home, retirement replacing career goals.
In the many autumns of our lives, we recognize disengagement from our thoughts, others, and/or actions. There are places, relationships, and activities that are no longer available to us.
At the same time autumns take each of us to new opportunities. We may find ourselves going where others cannot follow. The autumns of our lives are fundamentally private experiences. The time of letting go of the past and before the birth of the new can be lonely, but we may discover that being alone can be a good thing. New colors are brought forth at times of transition. We may experience strong feelings of loneliness, and paradoxically feel spiritually connected. With the right attitude loneliness can be transformed into the welcome beauty of solitude.
The Fall is a time to balance our mixed feelings of loss and positive transformation.
One leaf with many falls alone
Loss is true, yet welcome ground
III The Golden Years of Autumn
There is another way to understand autumn as we age. While autumn comes once a year, it can also be understood as a period of our lives, our senior years. It can be full of bright colors bringing with it perspectives and opportunities that did not present themselves in earlier years. Autumn becomes a more reflective time as we age.
There is a time when loss is wrought
A place to isolate is sought
A time to pause and learn from change
To yesterday we bid adieu
And greet old age as new
Successful aging is often understood as continuing our midlife activities indefinitely. Such a view refuses to see the changing colors that time brings. The phrase, “growing into old age” (from Gerotranscendence by Lars Tornstam) recognizes that aging has its own character and that change and newness continue to happen. Tornstam documents that in the autumn of life most individuals experience a redefinition of self, relationships, and see what is important with new eyes. We gain new understandings about ourselves and the world we live in.
A classic story illustrates Tornstam’s observation. Margery Williams’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit written in 1922, tells the story of a young toy velveteen rabbit who asks his friend, Skin Horse, if it hurts “to become real since it took such a long time and wore you out.” A discussion follows in which the old Skin Horse concludes: “Becoming real takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except with people who don’t understand.”
As the leaf rests upon the earth, it loses its objective beauty. It becomes one with the dirt bringing nourishment to the tree in need. The gift brought in autumn is Real. It is beautiful.
“Wabi-sabi” is a Japanese expression for beauty found in impermanence or transition. A prime example is a flower arrangement where the flowers will wilt quickly. Such arrangements are most valued because they show beauty in a temporary state while acknowledging the power of ongoing change. “Wabi-sabi” recognizes the uniqueness and beauty of old age. The late bloom.
May we celebrate our late bloom, Look at our lives with new eyes, not better eyes, just different eyes. Our environment, relationships, medical needs, what we read, what interests us, the importance of solitude, provide transition in the autumn of our lives. If we try to go back to when we were younger, it does not work. But, oh, the bright colors that bring new expressions and joy to our living are within our grasp.
The leaf knows not where it will land. Nor do we. It has never been separated from the tree or faced the unknown before. Nor have we. The science fiction writer Ray Bradbury got it right:
“Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.”
Light a candle, smell rain’s dew
In old age become anew
The time for change confronts us all
Open heart, embrace the fall
Written by: Hartzell Cobbs
Hartzell Cobbs is the retired CEO of Mountain States Group (now Jannus, Inc.), a diverse nonprofit human service organization.
Now Available: THE MOON at the WINDOW
***All royalties from “The Moon at the Window” go to support the work of Smart Strategies for Successful Living.
About the Author: With a sprinkling of exuberance and vitality, Dr. Cobbs is an accomplished author of three books and numerous articles published in different venues throughout his life. Dr. Cobbs’ first book, Thanatos and the Sage: A spiritual approach to Aging (2008), offers a thought-provoking interpretation of the interplay between how to live life with meaningful intentions and the eventuality of coming to terms with death. His second book, Ravenwind (2019) delves into the raven’s role as it relates to Native American myths, legends, and folktales and global history. His reflections on the spirituality of living and dying depicted in his books are threaded throughout the short essays posted on the website for “Smart Strategies for Successful Living” and in his latest book, The Moon at the Window.
Smart Strategies for Successful Living provides an international format for writers to share research, thoughts, and experiences on aging well. One of our writers, Hartzell Cobbs, has compiled and edited articles from the past four years and put them in book form. “The book reveals the thoughts and emotions old age has dealt me” says Hartzell. “I have been surprised by how many aging people have similar experiences to my own.” The book has its genesis in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, and concludes with reflections in the silence of the Arizona desert.
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On behalf of Smart Strategies for Successful Living, a special thanks goes to Hartzell Cobbs for his brilliant works as a guest writer and for donating the book royalties from “The Moon at the Window” to us. We greatly treasure his talents and generous support of our website.