{"id":1102,"date":"2020-08-31T11:35:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T15:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/feminaferox\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2020-08-31T11:35:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T15:35:13","slug":"september-season-of-transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/feminaferox\/2020\/08\/september-season-of-transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"September, Season of Transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
Photo by Jeremy Thomas<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

September has always been a season of transition<\/a>. The leaves begin to change and the days, though still warm, begin to shorten. The air is crisp. Children go back to school and leases end. My birthday is in September, as is my mother\u2019s. This year, the changes will be even sharper. Children will return to schools that look dramatically different from the ones they left. My final lease is ending, and my husband and I are moving into our first real home. I\u2019ll be 31, a number that seems somewhat foreign to me. The entire world looks different, and even when things eventually do return to \u201cnormal,\u201d we will all be changed. Fortunately, I\u2019ve learned to become comfortable with transitions.<\/p>\n

The Beauty of Here and Now<\/h3>\n

Summer is my favorite time of year. I love hot weather, going to the beach, backyard barbecues. I\u2019m comfortable in 90 degree heat, even with humidity. Winter is the opposite. The days are short and cold. The air takes your breath away. It\u2019s painful to be outside. September is beautiful, but it means winter is on it\u2019s way. Growing up, I hated Fall largely for this reason. It may be lovely now, but my favorite time of year has ended and my least favorite is on it\u2019s way. This alone was enough to make me unhappy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obviously trite to tell people to just \u201clive in the moment,\u201d as if the future and the past aren\u2019t precisely what makes up\u00a0this moment.\u00a0<\/em>But it\u2019s also important to embrace the here and now. I\u2019ve missed a lot of Septembers for fear of November.<\/p>\n

Embracing September Sadness<\/h3>\n

There is always a certain sadness that comes with change. I\u2019m going to miss this neighborhood, being so close to Central Park and all the museums. I\u2019ll miss my local parish<\/a>. I\u2019m still mourning the abrupt change to my nanny job, a dear little boy who went to Florida for \u201ca couple weeks\u201d and never came back. Part of living in the moment of a transition is in fact lingering in the past. These feelings from the past, feelings of regret are part of the present moment. Concerns about the future are part of\u00a0this moment\u00a0<\/em>as well. By feeling every moment of change, we make room for the good feelings. In contrast, if we shut these feelings down, force ourselves against our will to just\u00a0enjoy that pumpkin spice<\/em>, they will come back with a vengeance.\u00a0And then there is no room for the good feelings of change: hope, excitement, and curiosity.<\/p>\n

Learning to Love November<\/h3>\n

The final step, for me, toward learning to love transitions was learning to accept \u2013 and even love \u2013 the darker seasons, both of life and of the year. Nothing on God\u2019s Earth is purposeless. And, if it was created by Him, it is good, even if it doesn\u2019t seem so to us. This is one of the most difficult truths to accept, and it\u2019s something I\u2019m still working on. But transitions are less scary when we know that the future is in God\u2019s hands. For Him, everything is already happening.<\/p>\n

*Please forgive me if my blog posts are less regular in the next couple weeks. I\u2019m moving homes! Have a blessed Autumn.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September has always been a season of transition. The leaves begin to change and the days, though still warm, begin to shorten. The air is crisp. Children go back to school and leases end. My birthday is in September, as is my mother\u2019s. This year, the changes will be even sharper. Children will return to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[939,945,236,942,933,936,930,117],"class_list":["post-1102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-change","tag-excitement","tag-hope","tag-moving","tag-seasonal-anxiety","tag-seasonal-depression","tag-september","tag-transitions"],"yoast_head":"\nSeptember, Season of Transitions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September has always been a season of transition. 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