A Lesson from Leaves

It looks like a fake photo, a stray leaf photoshopped onto an autumn scene. But it's not. First of all, I personally took the picture and secondly, I have no clue how to photoshop. A leaf really was suspended in midair, twirling, spinning, dancing, for at least 2 minutes! While nearby leaves were floating nonchalantly to the ground, this one was magically doing its own thing. But how?

I circled it from every angle, clicking pictures with my phone, waiting for it to fall at any minute.  Instead, it began turning somersaults, end over end, in some kind of joyful celebration. Then in an instant, the sun caught a thread –  the color of a cloud – glistening ever so slightly.  A spider's tricky handiwork.

The leaf's message wasn't lost on me. In fact, I had been reading it on my kitchen chalk board every day for the last two weeks.

I found the quote among an assortment of autumn sayings. Its truth and simplicity have become my mantra over a cup of coffee each morning as I've watched leaves detach from branches they've clung to for months.

"Letting go can be a good thing," the leaves remind me. Beautiful, in fact.

"Necessary," I add, knowing that new growth will never come as long as I'm clinging to worn out routines and unhealthy habits.

What is it I need to let go of now? I never need to think long for a list to materialize.
It's the actual letting go that's the challenge.

I remember the leaf dancing in its new-found freedom, in the joy of what comes next. 
​I smile at the possibilities.

---