Saturday Special: Born in Autumn

Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash

Since today is my seventy-fifth birthday, I often wonder if others' internal clocks are calibrated to place their birthdays as the beginning of a new year?

Many societies have different New Years, but most earthlings mark December 31 as the one day when we agree to have a huge party and synchronize international commerce.

When it comes to birthdays, though, does anyone "feel" an internal sensation that this is when time begins? Or am I the only one who registers a revolution around the sun as my own personal New Year?

Beyond narcissism, this is a physical as well as a mental thing. It is the sense that the autumn is actually a new beginning, not the countdown toward the end. This may have something to do with school always starting in the fall for most people. New classes. New friends. New projects. Summer vacation is over, kids, let's get back to business.

There are new plans to be made, goals to be set, dreams to be fulfilled. September is that warm, lazy month when I assess personal accomplishments then wonder if that dish of birthday cake and ice cream will spur me to keep up the momentum for another year. I make a new To-Do List for the New Year, just as others do on Jan. 1st. (BTW, happy birthday, Fran Gardner of Becoming.)

So far, each year has surprised me with signs of success. Abdul-Baha's adage, little by little, day by day, has inspired me throughout the years. Whenever I dwell on my lack of major attainment, I look to the little things, the small triumphs and seemingly insignificant progress. Then I realize I haven't really wasted my life. It's gotten better and richer with each day. For example, piano pieces I struggled with for weeks now flow with ease from my fingertips. What's more, I hardly noticed that small success developing over time. It just seemed to occur.

Sometimes I reflect on events that could have ended my life. Accidents. Illnesses. Whatever. We've all had such times that make us breathe a sigh of relief that we survived. I've occasionally said to myself, "if I'd died then, I wouldn't have met so-and-so or learned thus-and-such. I wouldn't have gone there or done that. Whew!

Nothing makes me appreciate that epiphany more than remembering my mother dying in her 60th year. A couple of my high school friends died in their sixties, too. At 75, I truly appreciate what has happened during the fifteen years I've lived beyond my mother's expiration date.

My writing career finally took off with the publication of two novels and a book of poetry. (Okay, they were self-published.) Earning my amateur radio license allowed me to serve my community with communication support for events and even a wildfire emergency. I learned to make quilts and to improve my knitting skills, joining with others to provide warm, colorful hats, shawls, and lap blankets for local hospitals. My daughter found her soul mate and gave us two grandchildren whom I enjoy immensely. This reawakened long lost skills to offer to a home school for them as well as friends in their rural community.

And I've enjoyed my first year and a half of posting stories and poems on Ring Around the Basin.

It takes my breath a way to think these accomplishments were possible because I was granted more time on this earthly plane. Thank you, God!

Apparently that extra time allowed all the experiences and learning of previous years to coalesce into self-actualization. Which reminds me of a statement made by a presenter talking about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. At the top of that list is self-actualization. The presenter said that doesn't usually occur until a person has reached their senior years. Another affirmation of this fact came from storyteller Ashley Ramsden who said the best storytellers are old people.

These truths have become crystal clear as I've arrived at this stage of life. Those of us who attain seventy-plus years of experience have reached the status of wise tribal elders. It's an exciting time for us despite the betrayals of our bodies and, to some extent, our minds. We can still give as well as achieve more in whatever we strive to do.

I apologize if all this sounds like the overblown aggrandizement of a braggart, but I rejoice meeting people from so many different places and gleaning the wisdom that enriches life and inspires my writing. My Substack readers have given me a vibrant space in which to dwell. I appreciate all of you for sharing your lives and wisdom with me. It's been a good run these seventy-five years and hopefully will continue down a long path through the turning leaves of autumn into the snap of winter's fresh, invigorating air.

This Facebook meme pops up now and then and reminds me of how far life has taken me.on...

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Ghost in the Forest, available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.

Book Review:

E.R. Flynn, Illustrator, Cartoonist, Storyteller and Creator of "Escape from Clowntown Comics" here on Substack.

"Ghost in The Forest" is a great read! Take note People. If you love stories about environmentalism and nature, its clash with urban mindsets, as well as personal transformation, this is the book for you!