I grew up in Central New York. Although the Winters started in October and sometimes ended in May, it all seemed worth it to spend every Autumn season enjoying the changing leaves. Although I live further South now, I remain in awe of the beautiful landscape of the Fall season. For these few weeks when all the leaves change, start blowing and falling gracefully, it is hard to imagine there could be anything prettier happening outside.
What is it, about Fall that so many of us “fall” in love with? Is it the crisp air? The promise of things cooling off? The return to school and football and jeans and boots? Maybe the thought of cider and doughnuts or chili and cornbread come to mind. Whatever Fall means to you, we know it has arrived when the leaves change.
While driving in an area I have not been before, I was stunned at the sheer magnificence of the colors that lined the road. Shades of orange and gold, yellow and red, dark and light browns and just a smattering of green in the pine trees surrounded my vehicle. I felt like a small speck of dust in that vast and glowing space. As I drove in gratitude, that such a road exists and that I got to be on it, I was curious about what made it so beautiful. Then it hit me.
The changing leaves, are what brought that road to life.
Before Fall approaches, we have seen the same vibrant Spring colors that hung around all Summer. We got used to the landscape as it was. The trees looked relatively uniform, with no real distinction or unique presence other than the miracle of the trees themselves, and all they do for us and our planet. Beyond that, there was not much to get excited about.
It is only when the leaves start to change and become their own unique expressions, bringing different colors, varying times that they decide to fall off of the trees, and create one-of-a-kind piles circling on the ground and dancing along the roadway, that we get excited. Or at least that is when I start paying close attention.
Maybe the same is true for humans. If we are all the same, and blend in with each other, and do our earthly work, but much like those around us, do we elicit “awe” from the world? Or are we just part of one way of thinking, one way of being, one way of working and one way of living?
I’d offer up that our splendor arises out of the idiosyncratic self expression of our changing nature. We don’t shine when we blend. We shine when we are different. We add vibrancy to the landscape of humanity when we can change colors, fall from the trees in our own timing, and share our own one-of-a-kind creations. We decorate the landscape by being who we are, in our own special way, in our own timing.
Next time you feel pulled to go with the flow, yield on an idea, or feel alone in your understanding of something, try to stand your ground. The world needs different, unique, special and idiosyncratic. The world needs innovative, creative and never-before-thought-of concepts. The world does not need conformity. Lest we all blend together like the trees before Fall came upon us.