Harvesting Connection Together
I absolutely love fall… the colours, the smells, the relaxing vibe that is settling into the land. Autumn just seems to be the season that helps slow us down, reflect, and prepare us for the quieter rhythm of the winter months to come.
At this time of year, I find myself unconsciously taking more time to appreciate my environment, lifting my face to the warmth of the sun more often and enjoying the rhythm of this in-between time, when the earth invites us to both harvest and rest.
After such a busy spring and summer, it is no wonder autumn feels so good for my soul!
Now that there is time to reflect on all the hard work it has taken to grow and tend a large garden, pick berries and mushrooms, gather herbs for medicine, keep bees, raise animals, catch fish and process everything… I am kinda tired but also extremely overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude.
Gratitude for the ability to fill my shelves and freezers with healthy organic food.
Gratitude to be able to share our harvest with others.
Gratitude for knowing that abundance is not measured in quantity, but in connection.
Connection to the land. To the rhythm of the seasons. To the quiet wisdom that everything we give returns in time.
Autumn has a way of reminding us that we are not separate from the cycles around us… we are participants in them. The soil gives, we tend, we harvest, and then we return what’s left to begin again.
It’s a humbling rhythm when you think about it. This ongoing dance of giving and receiving that happens so effortlessly in nature. The trees don’t cling to their leaves… the plants don’t mourn what’s finished. Each one trusts the process of letting go, resting, and beginning again.
Connection to relationships. To the friends and neighbors who are also proud of what they have tended and grown and share as willingly as you do. These simple exchanges remind me that abundance is meant to be shared.
There’s something special about taking someone berry picking in the woods and getting not just one, but two, homemade apple pies in thanks!, dropping off some wild mushrooms to a neighbor and receiving a loaf of homemade sourdough in return or swapping homegrown veggies with a friend so we both experience some new tastes.
Together, we create a kind of community pantry that feeds more than our bodies… it nourishes our sense of belonging.
These moments also remind me that community, like the harvest, grows best when it’s tended with care and generosity. Every exchange whether it’s food, time, or kindness… strengthens the invisible threads that hold us together. It’s not about keeping score or making things even…it’s about trust, appreciation, and the quiet joy that comes from giving what you can and receiving what you need.
Autumn invites us into that pause, the space between giving and receiving, where gratitude has room to grow. It’s in this space that we can feel the deeper nourishment of the season. Connection to the earth beneath our feet, to the people who share our path, and to the gentle reminder that we are part of something far larger than ourselves.
Keep breathing with the rhythm of the season.
Let the land remind you that healing and abundance are never possessions…they’re living relationships we nurture, one season at a time.
