These are the best days—August, September, and even into early October; autumn by the Celtic calendar—the good days before the earth turns its back on the sun and we descend into darkness, before the planet finally goes too far for the tilt of its axis and our part of the world falls into shadow, underexposed to the light.
It’s not paradise, but the way I feel this time of year is closer to how I should feel. The quality of my life is closest to the way it ought to be, to the way I imagine it first was for Adam and Eve. I cope better. At home, I’m nearly the picture of patience and kindness. Relaxed. Engaged. In the morning, I manage to pray and to exercise to strengthen my core and to fit in everything else I need to do before work. In the evening, I still have energy; I am ready for rest at bedtime without exhaustion or irritability. I bring more enthusiasm to my job. For the most part, I feel even and stable and in a good mood. Almost human.
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That's interesting, as, however much I love Fall's colors and temps, it's hard for me to get around the sense of impending doom that comes for me with fall--the approach of winter. That's one of the reasons I love spring best, I think--it's about pulling out of death's grasp, whereas fall forces us to come to terms with it.
Also, in grad school, fall is an unbalanced time for me, a time when my life collapses, too often, into a morass of increasing abstraction, only to regain its concrete form sometime in December, with the lovely metaphor of the once-again-increasing light coinciding so nicely with Christmas. In some ways, Advent tends to start early for me, the last few years.
That said, I'm also prone to allergies in fall, so I think that's part of it too. :)
Oh, and I was wondering whether you'd seen this blog post yet. Please ignore if you're avoiding reading seasonal reflections while you write them.
Hi Deb! I have a friend who becomes depressed as early as August. Her SAD starts kicking in right at the time I start to feel better because the sun has finally backed off a little. I'll probably be blogging about advent and solstice, and spring and Bright Sadness along the way, so I won't comment on those things now, except that I can relate to what you say about them.
I checked out Caroline Langston's post on the Image blog. Nice post. I'm not avoiding seasonal reflections, so feel free to send me stuff you think I might be interested in.
I can totally relate to this... in Edmonton during the month of June we have sun from 5am to 11pm. But in the winter, it's dark from 5pm to 8am. Definitely affects the rhythms.
Hey, have you heard of the Christian Century blog network? Yours would be great for it--here's a link with info:
http://www.ccblogs.org/node/12
Sorry I was signed in under Will's family blog! Previous comment was from me (becky)!
Hello! It has been a long time! I enjoyed your piano playing of past and enjoyed finding your blog and reading your posts. Would love to catch up and connect again. My email address is: acccminister777@yahoo.com
Learning Everyday!
Tab Greenlee
Becky:
Dark from 5 to 8--doesn't sound too much different from Michigan. Probably I could live in Edmonton! Though Alaska is out of the question. I'd never get any sleep around summer solstice, and I hate to think how winter would feel with so little light. I plan to write some more about SAD, especially now that we're past the equinox and losing daylight hours at a faster rate.
I hadn't heard about the Christian Century blog network until I happened to see the icon on your blog a while back. I took a peek and am interested in getting involved, but haven't taken the time to apply. Thanks for the suggestion!
Brian
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