From L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 16:
October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.
Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”
“Oh, and dream in too, Marilla. And you know one can dream so much better in a room where there are pretty things. I’m going to put these boughs in the old blue jug and set them on my table.”
I suppose Anne is right. I am lucky to live in a part of the world where there are Octobers. And on this Saturday morning in October, I walked to the end of my street and back, stopping to revel in the glory around me.
Honestly, it hasn't felt like there's been a lot to revel in these past few months. The pandemic, familial emergencies, and continued, exacerbated social injustices have pushed down my spirit.
But they have not crushed it.
That's due in part to my soft landing place, both socially and literally. I am lucky (privileged) to have (among many other factors) a strong family support network to protect me from poverty, to have had access to an education that propels me forward even in a disaster, and to live in a peaceful, socially stable area of the country.
(By the way, I don't dismiss my personal ability to overcome repeated setbacks and heartbreaks because these privileges exist. I rather use my awareness of them to understand that others who don't have these opportunities are not less deserving than I am of a soft place to land, an education, and a life lived in peace. I then do what I can to make the world a more just place, where all can have these opportunities.)
In addition to these buoying factors, and my personal resilience, I know that my spirits have been raised today by the beauty around me. After all, as Anne Shirley says, it gives me "a thrill--several thrills".
What a beautiful thing, to find peace in the midst of upheaval of all kinds.
May you find a pocket of peace to rest your soul, as I did today.
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