Quotes from the Classics: November
November does not readily lend itself to lines of poetry. Gone are the blue skies and brisk mornings of September and October. There is little hope of one of those unseasonably warm days that surprise and delight everyone. It is not quite…not quite the time of twinkling snow or hot chocolate or fires in the fireplace, not quite the season of holiday cheer (after all, by the time families gather around a turkey and Christmas music is played in earnest, November is all but over), and not quite the coming of new year resolutions. It is even too early to wait for it to be beautiful again. The Light has passed, the skies are grey, and we find ourselves in a strange liminal space of the desolate, the dark, the cold drizzles, the dreariness, with which we must sit. And what is there to say about that? It’s ugly, or so it seems, and most of us have just resigned ourselves to simply wishing it were something else.
November does not readily lend itself to lines of poetry. Gone are the blue skies and brisk mornings of September and October. There is little hope of one of those unseasonably warm days that surprise and delight everyone. It is not quite…not quite the time of twinkling snow or hot chocolate or fires in the fireplace, not quite the season of holiday cheer (after all, by the time families gather around a turkey and Christmas music is played in earnest, November is all but over), and not quite the coming of new year resolutions. It is even too early to wait for it to be beautiful again. The Light has passed, the skies are grey, and we find ourselves in a strange liminal space - of the desolate, the dark, the cold drizzles, the dreariness - with which we must sit. And what is there to say about that? It’s ugly, or so it seems, and most of us have just resigned ourselves to simply wishing it were something else.
Bare trees and Light by Johannes Plenio
So what Love is there to be found in November? I wanted to push myself, as I wrote this post, to feel into this time of year and see what it had to teach me. What happens when I accept that which I do not like? Certainly, I could distract myself with preparing for Black Friday sales, but what happens when I surrender? What happens when I give the worries to the wind, and accept the invitation to rest? What happens when I let go of what I can’t control and trust that what I need, what is mine, will come back to me, a truth the naked trees already seem to possess? Am I so graceful as they?
Definitively no, but I am learning. I am learning that when I accept, space is created where there was only resistance. And when there is space, all kinds of magic can happen. I can see with new eyes, find the Light, and be so very grateful for it precisely because it was hard to find. Inspired now, I can be joyful, I can create, I can be the Light. We surrender because we must, because we will lose ourselves if we don’t. We let go and breathe, dream, slow, pray. And then we offer gratitude for the gift of life, knowing we’ve witnessed magic and more, that we are the magicians. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy these quotes that capture the spirit of November.
A brief but important note: For many years, I’ve been conflicted about our American Thanksgiving tradition. I think it is a beautiful time to elevate gratitude and to spend time with my dear family. AND, I’m not oblivious as to its origins. I have faced this conflict with other traditions and my personal approach is to be honest about it, to work to make beauty of it, and to make it meaningful to me, and in that way, to reclaim it. My daughters and I, with humility and great respect, venture to learn about Native American culture, especially during November. This year, I’m sharing passages from Braiding Sweetgrass - not only a Love letter to the Earth but also a gorgeous glimpse into Native American culture, and possibly my favorite book. I do not claim to know all or even some, and I offer this, not to preach, but maybe to help us both remember all we share. Do with it what you will.
“The leaves believe such letting go is love, such love is faith, such faith is grace, such grace is God. I agree with the leaves.”
“A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think I, too, have known autumn too long. ”
“No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!”
“The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. The mite which November contributes becomes equal in value to the bounty of July.”
“But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods...for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them.”
“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”
“In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.”
“In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog.”
“Peering from some high window, at the gold of November sunset and feeling that if day has to become night, this is a beautiful way.”
“Autumn is the season to find contentment at home by paying attention to what we already have.”
“There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.”
Love in all things,
April Eileen