It is the last day of August. As summer draws to a close, our calendars are already summoning our thoughts and to-do lists toward all that is written for September and the months to come. Summer can quickly become a past event. That very moment can also be a moment of invitation to pause and pay attention.
With the whole of the world around us we stand poised on the edge of what has been and what is next. Technically, every moment is such a moment but in our fast paced living we do not experience that so much. All the more reason to tune in to the summons of this moment when it happens. The number of times in the past weeks that I have heard some version of “I can’t believe it is the end of August/summer” suggests that we know and feel those pivotal moments. The question then becomes, Will I take time to pay attention to the moment? or maybe How will I honor this moment by being fully present to it and allowing it to speak to me? or even What is inviting me to notice and be with it? and finally Is there a message here?
To jump start that noticing, I share a few of my own musings of the moment:
- It is no longer getting light at 4:30 in the morning.
- The whole environment is a different color green.
- Gardens are hosting full foliage and late summer, even early fall, flowerings.
- The light lies differently on all the buildings as I hustle through the loop to the el train.
- The busy bird song of early morning has quieted.
- Sunsets have a different quality and a different color pallet and happen earlier.
- The farmer’s market offers a wider diversity of produce and is empty of early summer offerings.
- Sale flyers: end of season blow-outs, back-to-school, get ready for fall….
If you are reading this blog, chances are that you already are a “noticer” and have your own long list of invitations to pay attention. Rejoice in that awareness and consider this reflection just one more invitation to continue to do just that:
- Pay attention.
- Notice.
- Notice what you notice
- Stay with what you notice.
- Pay attention……