Welcome.
The Harvest Full Moon arrives at a natural point.
A time when what has been growing is gathered.
When we pause before moving into the next season.
We have an opportunity to notice what our own lives have produced.
We're often very good at noticing what is unfinished.
What still needs work.
How far we have to go.
Tonight we're going to do something different.
We're going to notice what has grown.
What has changed?
What you have learned.
What you have created.
And what you have become.
We're not here to measure it.
Simply to acknowledge.
Then we will consider what is worth carrying forward.
Take a moment to get comfortable.
Close your eyes if that feels good.
Take a slow breath in.
And release.
Again.
Breathing in.
.
.
And breathing out gently.
Feel the support beneath you.
Let your shoulders soften.
Unclench your jaw.
Relax your hands.
There is nothing that needs your attention in this moment.
Allow your breath to find its own gentle rhythm.
You don't need to make anything happen.
Just arrived.
Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a wide field.
It is evening.
The harvest moon is rising.
Sending golden light stretches across the landscape.
The air has that feeling.
One season beginning to give way to another.
It's still warm.
But you feel the change coming.
You see a path in front of you.
Start walking down this path.
Slowly.
Notice the ground beneath your feet.
The evening air,
Cool breeze.
Warm,
Just a hint of what is to come.
The moonlight from the full moon surrounds you.
And you hear the sounds of the crickets and cicadas settling in.
This field represents a season of your life.
Perhaps the season you have just lived.
Or maybe something longer.
There is no need to define it.
Just walk.
Moving through the field.
As you move farther into the field.
You begin to notice what has grown here.
Some things are obvious.
Others are easy to miss.
Take your time.
Look around.
Perhaps you notice something that represents an accomplishment.
Something you have finished.
Something you created.
A decision.
You finally made.
Maybe you notice a relationship that grew.
Or one relationship that taught you something.
Perhaps there is something representing a boundary.
That you have learned to hold.
Maybe you see a difficult conversation you finally had.
Or one lovely moment.
When you trusted yourself.
Maybe you see something.
Representing what you have survived.
Something that may have once felt impossible.
And yet.
.
.
Here you are.
There may be things growing here.
That nobody else would recognize as a harvest.
Rest.
Discernment.
Confidence.
Patience.
The ability to say no.
Be courage to begin again.
Knowing when to stop.
Knowing when to stay.
Knowing yourself a little bit better.
Continue walking.
Letting your own images appear.
Notice what catches your attention.
Now ask yourself.
What have I grown?
That I haven't given myself credit for.
No need to search for an impressive answer.
Just notice what comes.
Maybe your harvest looks like nothing you expected.
That's okay.
Not everything we grow begins with a plan.
You notice ahead of you is a simple wicker basket.
You go towards it and pick it up.
You're going to gather a few things from this field.
Not everything.
Only what you want to acknowledge.
Walk toward the first thing that belongs in your basket.
As you place it there,
Notice what it represents.
Quietly acknowledge.
I grew this.
Continue walking.
And notice what else in this field of yours that deserves to be gathered.
And placed in your basket.
As you collect your harvest.
Say to yourself,
I grew this too.
As you look around,
You notice There might be one more thing.
Something that you've overlooked.
Something small.
Something nobody applauded.
And something only you will understand.
As you walk over.
Gather it.
Placing it in your basket.
Feel the weight.
Of your basket now.
It's not heavy.
And it is substantial.
You are carrying evidence of your growth.
Now turn and look back across the field that you have been walking.
Notice how easy it would have been to walk straight through without seeing any of what you have gathered in your basket.
You would have already been focused on the next field over.
The next goal.
The next thing to fix.
The next thing to become.
But tonight you stopped.
You noticed.
You gathered.
Bring your basket to a quiet place to rest.
Beneath the harvest moon.
You've placed a picnic blanket ready for your sitting.
And as you settle in,
You take a moment to look at what you have collected,
What you have gathered.
Let yourself receive all of the bounty of your basket.
No minimizing.
No adding.
What?
No immediately thinking about what you should have done differently.
For this moment.
Let what you've grown be enough.
Now say to yourself I honor what has grown.
I honor what it took to get here.
I allow myself to receive my own harvest.
Take a look again at your basket.
Because gathering doesn't mean carrying everything forward.
Some things belong to the season that created them.
Some lessons have already done their work.
Some ways of being helped get you here.
Don't need to come with you more.
It's time to ask yourself.
What is worth carrying forward?
Notice what remains important.
Perhaps it is a lesson.
A strength.
Relationship,
A practice,
A truth you have learned about yourself.
Choose what you want to carry.
And allow everything else to remain here.
You aren't rejecting the things as you are taking them out of your basket.
None of these need to be dramatically released.
They simply don't need to travel with you.
Feel the difference.
In your basket.
As you stand to go.
You look towards the other side of the field and notice there is another path.
You can't see where it ends.
And you don't need to.
You are taking only what you've chosen.
Turn once more towards the field behind you.
Under the light of the harvest full moon,
See the whole landscape.
What grew beautifully.
What struggle.
What surprised you?
What never grew at all.
It was all part of your season.
You don't have to call every experience a blessing.
You don't have to be grateful for everything that happens.
Simply acknowledge.
That this season.
Taught me something.
And I am allowed to recognize how far I've come.
Begin walking towards the new path.
Slowly.
There's no rush to the next season.
Feel what you're carrying,
Not everything.
You brought all the things that matter.
As you're walking,
Ask yourself,
What do I want to cultivate?
In this next season.
Don't turn it into a goal.
Let it be.
A feeling,
A quality,
An intention.
A way that you want to experience life.
Perhaps a word comes to mind.
An image Either way.
Carry that word or image with you.
Now allow the field to slowly fade.
The path,
The basket,
The moonlight.
And bring your awareness back to your breath.
Feel your body supported beneath you.
Wiggle your fingers and toes and notice the sounds around you.
Take a deep breath in and slowly breathe out.
Before you open your eyes.
Recall one thing you gathered.
One thing you haven't given yourself enough credit for.
And hold it in your mind for just a moment.
You don't have to wait until you have reached some imaginary finish line to acknowledge your growth.
There will always be another season.
Another goal.
Another beginning.
But there also needs to be a harvest.
A moment when you stop.
Look around.
And recognize the richness of what you have grown.
Take one slow breath.
And when you're ready.
Gently open your eyes.
Welcome back.
