Dear Autumn Souls,

I began to write this blog on Thursday with the Harvest Moon.
Plenty of time to have it done before the Equinox, but as I began
to engage with my thoughts and feelings, I went deeper and time
passed.  So I am sending this to you late.  I don't know how you
paid attention to the Equinox Within as it is so easy to see it as
just another day.
 
It is not too late to plan your Inner Autumn...
 
 
The Equal Night of the Self Aware Soul


The Latin root of Equinox is equi = equal and nox = night.

The word "equal" calms as it calls forth the imagination of balance
and stability.

And Night conjures up thoughts of hidden mysteries and unseen
powers - malevolent or benevolent.

Sunday, September 22, is the Autumn Equinox, and the turning point
when night overtakes day. The Equinox begins a new season for being
human and becoming I.

For our souls it is the Equal Night that signals the midpoint of a
journey inward to the darkness of inner reflection. (It is the
Spring Equinox that signals the midpoint of the journey outward
into the light and outer expression.)

How can you begin this new season with 1 or 2 intentions for your
inner development? The inner gesture of the  Autumn season is moral
development.  Moral development evolves to the degree that we meet,
transform, and vanquish evil, the darkness, in our own souls and
how we engage and strengthen our inner light through our
relationship with the forces for goodness.  Heavy order for
self-inquiry and self-compassion!

A Suggestion

Here is a suggestion:  Just consider a baby step of noticing evil
and goodness in how you listen to others. This is not about feeling
shame or pride, just about gently and simply noticing.  Perhaps
around the middle of November, you can intend to do a little less
of the shadowy listening, and a little bit more of the open
listening.

Journal about listening...what is shadowy listening? ...what is open
listening?

It is also a real value to consider the moral quality of the
listening you receive.  Make note, explore the feelings you have
when someone is truly open to you in their listening, or is their
attention really focused somewhere in the shadows of selfishness?

 Seasonal Goals - Resources & Commitments

It is really important to articulate your goals, such as the goal
to be more awake to the deed of listening. Goals are the
completion, achievement, and fulfillment of intentions. Please
write them down.  And then consider how you will get from your
Equinox intentions to your Solstice celebration... just 13 weeks.

What are the resources can you access and utilize to support the
achievement of your inner goals? If conversations with another
person would help, are you willing to request another's time,
attention and care?

Are you confidant? Are you committed? Do you feel you deserve this?
What do you place more value on than the development of your inner
life?

These questions bring to light, the mistaken notion that inner work
is about self-interest and inner pleasure, essentially selfish and
unholy.  Not so!

All that you bring to others, to the world, to the future is a
reflection of your inner strength, integrity, purity, and wisdom.
The more your work on your inner development the greater your
contribution becomes.  And it also means that you are willing to
meet your inner shadows and demons, not avoid them.

Let's meet the new season of darkness with the light of clear
intention and commit with heartfelt promise.  Let's have an inner
plan.

If you want to know what I am bringing to my Autumn inner life,
read my thoughts here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Here are the resources I offer you to support your inner work this
Autumn and every season.

My blogposts: usually 2-3 a month. Like this one, I offer insights
and questions for your inner work.

The Imagine Self courses:
For Autumn, I will be offering 5 self-revealing programs for
imagining a more awake, compassionate self.  I will be announcing
them in my next post.  I am very excited because these will be the
first programs to be delivered to you via a new online learning
platform designed to make your interaction with the course
materials much easier.  This is so cool.

Finally, the most intimate and transformative resource I offer is
my Sacred Conversations work. Obviously, only a few can benefit
from this as I only schedule 10-12 conversations a week.  See
below, for more information about this amazing one-to-one work.

Lately I have been asked by a number of my readers, if I do live
workshops. Yes, I do, but I do not organize them - you do.  You can
consider inviting me to do a weekend workshop for you and your
friends, your organization, or your community.  This can be as
relaxed as a gathering of 5-10 of your friends in your living room,
or as demanding as 300 people in a conference center.  I can give a
workshop on any aspect of Imagine Self, on any topic I've written
about in a blogpost, or any question, concern, or goal you hold in
your heart.  Just contact me and let's have a conversation about
the possibility.