2022 November
As I write, the autumn beauty is at its peak. It seems to anticipate November, the month of All Souls. The colorful leaves reflect the impermanence of life. They remind us of the beauty and fragility of the cycle of life. They must let go and die in order to nourish new life in the spring. I read of a woman who developed a ritual using leaves as a symbol of those who have left us. She gathered a collection of autumn leaves, in different sizes, shapes, and colors. On some, she wrote the names of the deceased who played a role in her life. On others, she drew a simple heart shape for those whom she recalled but whose names she did not know. Others she left blank to symbolize the unknown. Then she created a bunting of the leaves and hung it from a tree where they moved softly in the breeze. She imagined the wind whispering their names and carrying them to the heavens.