Welcome To November

Saturday, November 1, 2014

November announces itself with stripped trees, brisk air and a burgeoning pressure to complete preparations to be able to effectively hibernate.

November here in Minnesota doesn’t rank highly in my list of favorite months.  It is a transitional month.  The glory of bright autumn colors is typically gone by the time we turn the calendar to November.  Bright, diverse colors are the province of October.  Now we greet a world of browns, grays and faded golds and oranges.  Despite the fact that the world’s colorful hues are now becoming muted November is no less a month than any other.  Sometimes those transitional periods are as crucial as what came before and what will soon come on the other side.

Twenty-five years ago today the world entered into a month that would become exceedingly memorable by the time it ended.  Communism was teetering on the brink of collapse in Europe.  November, 1989 marked the acceleration of that process of collapse.  One of the most historically significant events would occur on November 9, 1989.  The Berlin Wall would come open.  Suddenly East and West would meet.

As I noted yesterday I will be focusing on Germany throughout this month of November, 2014 as a way of honoring my own German ancestors as well as the significance of that time in German history. 

I was a sixteen year old teenager at the time the Berlin Wall fell.  I was a high school student in public school in Texas at the time.  I had begun my third year of German language in September of 1989.  And I was certainly completely shocked by the pace of events in Germany in November, 1989.  I wasn’t much of a history buff as a kid.  I suppose this was due, in part, to my perception that history tends to repeat itself.  We humans, both individuals and whole societies, seem inclined to make some of the same mistakes over and over.  In short we do not seem to learn much from our histories.  But our futures do not have to look like our pasts.  We can change even if the process of change is grueling.

I am determined to not make the same mistakes in my own future that have sometimes seemed to be too big a piece of my past.  Cultivating mindful awareness in your daily life can be an important key to the ongoing practice of developing personal freedom, insight and healthy relationship skills.

Here are my questions for the day:

• As the world outside our windows gradually enters a new season of silence what do you wish to reflect on about the season of life now receding away?
• What is the state of your interior life?
• What psychic seeds can you imagine planting in the coming months that you will bring into fruition next spring and summer?
• Finally, consider the Berlin Wall as a metaphor.  Does your life feel at all split?  Are there pieces of your own self that need to be reintroduced to the larger world?

Post Script

Fifty Day Challenge, Day #37

My healthy activities for today:

• Breathing deeply
• Consciously enjoying the remaining beauty of fall colors while walking through Loring Park
• Volunteering for an important philanthropic event tonight