Autumn is my favorite time of year; the leaves change into beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red. Boreas gently blows through the trees making the dryads sing songs of change. The air grows colder as the wind picks up, blowing away what remains of Summer’s sun-soaked season. Hekate returns to walk with Persephone as she returns to the underworld. It’s a time of year to be reflective – the perfect opportunity to look back and take stock of life so far.
It’s also a time to look forward to inevitable change. Autumn reminds us that if we don’t die to some things, then other things cannot spring into life.

What will life look like if I simply keep living the way that I have been living?
If I embrace change, what changes would I make? What would I have to let go of?
If I say “yes” to making a life decision, what might be the “worst that can happen?”

I can do something different and initiate change.
I can do nothing different and let things go on as they have for years.

What kind of changes would I want to make?
What am I willing to sacrifice to bring those changes into being?
What am I afraid of losing?

If I do not make a change then I do not think that things will stay the same. I think that things will continue to go downhill.
But, if I am being honest with myself, turning around and looking at the long trek back up the hill seems Sisyphean.

“I do not ask to see the distant scene, – one step enough for me.” [1]

One step. Just one.

“Down the passage we did not take, toward the door we never opened.”[2]

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. . . You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”[3]

If I open the door and set out on the journey then “there is no knowing where [ I ] might be swept off to.”

But, if I sit in my comfortable habits I will continue to be uncomfortable.

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[1] John Hwnry Newman, “Lead Kindly Light”

[2][2] TS Elliot, “The Four Quartets; Burt Norton”

[3] JRR Tolkien, “Fellowship of the Ring” Chapter 3