A Time for Gratitude

Here in the northern hemisphere we’ve just passed through the Autumn Equinox portal and are now becoming firmly grounded within the energies of autumn. This time of transition is what unfolds as a result of moving through a portal of balance where we experience the magnetism of the sun and the earth nearly equal in their energetic intensity. This is what the equinox is: a time of (almost) equal day and night.

As we enter into a relationship with autumn, we begin to feel the days getting shorter, the temperatures cooling, and an embodied shift towards going inward. Not all of us enjoy this time of year. Those who enjoy the heat and light-filled days of summer go through a kind of mourning. And for those who prefer the still quiet of the dark, the arrival of autumn brings a rush of relief mixed with excitement.

There is a gift held within the Autumn Equinox that can offer all of us a reason to celebrate, and that is the gift of gratitude.

Our “gardens” are bursting with all that we’ve brought to life, whether squash, carrots, and potatoes or manifested projects, realized new ways of being and relationships. What we lovingly spent our time and energy birthing through the spring and tending to maturation throughout the summer, is now here in all its fullness. We now get to experience the results of our efforts and give thanks for what has unfolded, as well as what didn’t come to be as we had hoped or in how we had expected.

Gratitude is the energy that carries us through into autumn and transforms our lived experiences and manifestations into the “soil” within which we’ll plant our new seeds of ideas and intentions at the coming winter solstice.

Celebrate the blessings of balance now available to us at the Autumn Equinox as we begin the descent into the dark time of the year. It’s a time of not only gratitude but also potential.

THE AUTUMN EQUINOX PORTAL PAINTING

This equinox painting experience called for a deeper engagement in the process. This time I was drawn to paint on location, to immerse myself within the landscape. In each place, I not only incorporated the energies of the place but also some of the elements – waves, stones, and leaves.

I was first drawn to the sea where I painted in the rhythmic energies of the waves with the bands of color and swirls and then incorporated the beach stones around me by tracing their shapes in a way that reflected their positions on the ground. Then I was drawn to a quiet place within the landscape where I sat within the verdant growth of the labyrinth at the Common Ground Fair. There I connected to the stillness within the vibrant energies of the fair and incorporated the fallen leaves of the local plants into the painting by tracing their shapes into a vesica piscis to hold the balance of not only the energies of equinox but also of sea and land.

This painting experience was one of witness and of embodied engagement with place and time: of finding the quiet center of balance within two vastly different environments and bringing them together.

The Film

Enjoy watching this short film of the painting being created.

Time duration: 1 min. 54 sec.