October is For Remembering

Preserved seeds at Off the Trail on Packerland.

Here’s the thing, October, and in some ways  fall in general, is for ghosts. The leaves have fallen and are picked up by curious children and carried home for examination. Sunlight flees faster and faster each night and the wind has picked up to be a little bit colder (except this past weekend, but anyway–). October is for ghosts and ghosts are for remembering.

Memory is a tricky thing. Sometimes rising unbidden like a door shutting loudly somewhere when you’re alone in an empty house or maybe, sometimes even worse, rising like a fog to cover everything in a wash of ambient grief. Even with its tricks, memory is a huge part of what makes us who we are and so we must honor its importance even when it is a jump scare.

Whether this month gives you a delicious helping of hauntings in the spirit of Halloween or a more somber remembrance of people or places no longer here, please remember to honor whatever season you’re in and to give yourself the chance to meet yourself and your ghosts with grace.

October Reflection Prompt

Spend time this month reminiscing. Whether through journaling or with a treasured friend, remember a version of yourself that you haven’t thought about in a while. In what ways can you honor that version of yourself without letting the past haunt you?