Time steams ahead and already we are well into Autumn, so today I offer you the next in my series of seasonal walks.

I have mixed feelings about Autumn if I’m honest. It’s probably not my favourite season, although I’m not sure I could put my finger on why. It starts on my birthday so always signals another creep forward in my life, this year a milestone number. And the season then seems to then disappear in a flash, consumed as it normally is by the new term, darkening days and the frenetic rush toward Christmas. I never seem to be quite prepared enough for the cold, dark and manic moments!

And of nature, what does she make of Autumn? What do we see when we walk around our Autumn landscape? There is much that changes this season that can offer metaphor in our coaching walk. Let’s wrap up well and step outside.

Despite my mixed feelings, there is one thing I completely love about Autumn: those wonderful fresh and crisp mornings, when the sky is clear, bright and blue and the air is cold but invigorating. It’s the time I can easily convince myself to go out, so I’ve chosen one of those mornings for our walk.

First, as always, is our breathing. The cold air passing into our bodies can be a shock, but we are not in the depths of winter yet, so enjoy the sharp tug on your lungs and breathe deep. Keep your eyes open, drink in the deep blue sky and settle before we take our first step.

Look around you and let your eyes land on something. It can be human-made or nature-made. Take a few moments to notice the shape, the lines, the edges and angles. Notice colours and shades, nuances of tone and texture. Finally, think of its utility – what is it for, does it serve a purpose you know of, is it functional or aesthetic, at the end of its useful life or at the beginning.

That exercise helps to tune in to your surroundings, and notice the world around you. It gets your imaginative juices flowing too, which will help with your self-coaching.

I’m ready to start wandering now, and the autumnal questions that I find I am asking myself are:

As the leaves accept their fate that they will change colour and fall away from the tree that has held them, how too can I accept the fate of what is in front of me and let go of what I cannot change?

What ideas or projects can I now harvest that have been growing and ripening over the last few months?

What activities, programmes, projects or tasks have come to the end of their useful life, and I can now allow to decay into the earth and recycle into energy for the future?

What can I do now to prepare myself for any potential winter ahead? Are there supplies (research, ideas, equipment etc) I can gather or sustenance I can preserve (such as relationships) to see me through?

As I walk I am looking around me and marvelling at the ease with which nature is, on the one hand letting go of summer and accepting change, whilst simultaneously stepping into preparation for winter. Autumn is tinged with the sadness of the passing of summer, yet full of rejoicing for the harvest. 

A season of contradiction then, or of balance? That depends on your point of view. As you keep walking what do you find yourself noticing?

I could focus on the death and decay, the Halloween party in my lawn, or I could offer Thanksgiving for the brief life that passes and the lusciousness of my garden. Both are necessary.

Autumn is the last colourful hurrah before we fall into the hibernating womb of winter. Relish its lessons as you walk around.

Juliet Flynn, Organisational and People Development Consultant