Fall's Dissolution

 Today, for the first time perhaps, I have experienced a true ending of summer and the heralding of the cooler weather of autumn. I can see this in the way the skies get dark very early recently as well as that chill crispness in the way the trees sway together. I am sure that autumn is well on its way from these warning signs.  And I also experience the singular beauty that comes from the dissolution of something that feels eternal and youthful.
   Fall's expressions, and particularly autumn trees, remind me that there is a certain kind of beauty that comes from dissolution. It is as though the one uniform swath of green turns into a burst of confused colors, all dissembled and yet meshing together in imperfect harmony. Yet without the dissolution, there would be no definition of things, only a kind of uncertain blandness that falls over things as they become more uniform. Fall reminds me that things have a distinct crispness to them, such as the sounds of rustling trees and the various colors of the fruits and seedlings as they drop to the ground. These planned dissolutions eventually herald new beginnings. They are part of a regular cycle in nature.
  What does fall's sense of dissolution signify? For me, I think it has a lot to do with the sense of an approaching newness, but also of how the heart has to be open to new changes. It has to be empty and still in order to accept what is new, including the fear of loss and disconnection that often come with chaos and disorder. Fall's liminal spaces symbolize how taking on new experiences often requires changing the way one sees existing ones as well as risking a break from the habitual self that is built around safety and familiarity. Yet the variety of autumn's colors is also a gentle reminder that change is not always a desolate thing, and that it can lead to a variety of perspectives that we wouldn't see if we never left the comforts of home and find new forms of 'home'. Perhaps for this reason, I do find fall to be the most exhilarating season to behold and experience.