Wednesday, 08 September 2010

A Time of Reflection : Autumn

SUMMERS ARE A GREAT TIME to be outdoors, visiting friends, and enjoying a little slower pace as others and we vacation and generally take advantage of no school. We partake in the summer rituals of tank tops and shorts, bare feet, swimming in lakes and streams, surfing, picnics, bar-b-ques, riding bicycles and motor-bikes and sleeping out under the stars.

But those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have come and gone. At least we feel that way because of the start of another school year, the shortening of the days, and the unmistakable turning of the leaves.


If summer is a season of rest, what, then, can we expect from the fall season? Fall is the season of reflection. It is the season of change—the leaves change and create a spectacular mosaic of colour; the weather changes and gives us cold, crisp mornings; like the animal world, we change our priorities as we reap the harvest and prepare for the colder months that lie ahead.

Fall is a wonderful time to sit before a cozy fire and reflect back over the previous eight or nine months. It is a time when we can think about what has come, both in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. It is a time to think about the future and what changes, if any, need to occur. It is a time to plan. It is a time to think about how to live well.

Two areas, for living well, that we bring before you on a regular basis are eating and exercising. Another, however, is our involvement in our community.

George Bernard Shaw said,

This is the true joy in life—the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I've got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

Perhaps this fall you can find time to reflect on your community (as big or small as you choose to make it) and your involvement in it. We all benefit from communities and neighbourhoods that function WELL.

Finally, I would like to thank those people who have contributed to this issue and to those who shared the past issue with friends. I would like to invite all of you, once again, to consider how you might contribute your talents and insights to this Newsletter through a walking picture, a personal story or an article.

:: Be well. Peter Mason