"Dressed Up in Color"  (Alton Baker Park) © 2013  ~ photograph by Carol E Fairbanks

" Mere colour can speak to the soul in a 1000 different ways."

                                                                                         ~ Oscar Wilde

                          The Wonderful Message of Autumn

"Western Tanager" © 2009 ~ acrylic by Carol E Fairbanks

 If color has the ability to soothe the emotions and bring harmony to the body, then my walks in the woods this autumn should have me glowing with vibrant life!  To my amazement, before this fall, I had stored no photographs or paintings of autumn foliage in my I-photo files.  So the photos I have taken this fall are a real gift to both my body and my soul....as well as a wonderful addition to my photo files!  Never do I remember experiencing such dramatic color, nor do I recall feeling so emotional about seeing nature transform the landscape so beautifully. 

Maybe we tend to notice such healing offerings from nature when we need it the most, as I do now in this time of letting go and change. I seem to be right in sync with Mother Nature, as she changes the trees in preparation for a letting go of last summer's growth.  The activity of life is slowing down and preparing for a rest and renewal. It's time for us to incubate new ideas and dream of the possibilities that will take root after the winter rest, when we once again make "friends" with the sun.  

" Red Oaks on the Trail" (Willamette Mission Park)  © 2013 ~ photograph by Carol E Fairbanks

Meanwhile, with all this wonderful sunshine illuminating this dazzling color of autumn, there is no need to contemplate the gray days of winter just yet!  So I walk among this healing color and know, in my heart,  that all is truly well in the world.... and with the daily news, that is sometimes frightening, we need all that color we can get!  

"As Above, So Below" (Alton Baker Park) © 2013 ~ photograph by Carol E Fairbanks

Perhaps, this spectacular color is reflecting to us a beauty and order that we have forgotten in the midst of the concerns and challenges that seem to loom in our lives.  Is Mother Nature telling us to contemplate an order and harmony that lies below those appearances that we stress so much about?  Would it be better to focus more on what is "right" rather than what is "wrong"?  When I walk in such beauty, I feel that harmony, and a sense of peace helps me to sense being an integral part of that grand scheme of nature.  When I feel that connection, a sense of urgency leaves me, and gratitude replaces my fear....love replaces resentment ...and a faith in goodness fills my soul.

"Rainbow of Leaves" (Willamette Mission Park) ©  2013  ~ photograph by Carol E Fairbanks

The gift of the seasons is that we are reminded that there is a time for everything, and now appears to be a time for celebrating life... for knowing that our true "colors" are sometimes hidden beneath our need to always "know" ... and that by moving into a period of rest and silence, we can allow that authentic beauty of our "colors" to surface and radiate our needed gifts to the world.

When I am turning all the lights on in my home in the middle of a gray, rainy winter day, I will remember these wonderful lessons of my colorful fall walks in the woods.  I will close my eyes and see those reds, and oranges and yellows, as they awaken the "sunshine" in me. And perhaps my inner light will brighten a corner of the world in the midst of our slowing down this winter.

"Autumn Sunset"  (Willamette Mission Park) © 2013  ~photograph by Carol E Fairbanks