The shift is subtle, but it is here.  Twilight calls us home a little earlier each evening and darkness welcomes us as we start our days.  The energy is shifting and we feel it in the soul.  The journey inward beckons and we answer the call as the lingering heat of summer is still warm on our skin.

This is the time of year that I belong to me.  Don’t misunderstand, I love summer.  The hot days filled with sunshine, late afternoons with children at the pool, Saturdays at the seashore….these days are carefree and fun.  I celebrate the summer, each memory to be remembered fondly as I age.

But I yearn for the descent, the time when the dark of the forest lures me in.

This is a time for reflection while preparing for the darker days ahead. It’s a time to tend to the body and the spirit. It’s a time to be still.

A calm settles around me and I begin to re-find myself. I surround myself with the essence of my own being, comfortable in my own company. Connection with myself during this time is like connecting with a long, lost friend. Where has she been and what has she been doing? How has this past trip around the sun changed her?

I’ve witnessed myself grow this past year, no longer afraid to own who I am. I find myself standing up and speaking out on issues that sat silent on my lips for too long.  How many others have sat in passive silence with me, disconnected from the struggles of other women as we work our jobs, tend to our families and take on all that life throws our way?  I feel like a warrior in the micro but the macro cloaks me in privilege.  These are the subjects of my contemplation and inner journeying this season.  Who am I becoming? What does that person look like in the world?

I will embrace my inner rituals as I continue to find my soul along this journey.  Meditating daily, adding to the journal of my heart, listening to my ancestors through the whispers of the trees and asking spirit for guidance will assist me along my path.

 I must hurry because this may not be the best time in history to be still.