Tonight, lay down your pitch forks and scythes (real or metaphorical), sit on your porch swing and spend the evening with the Super Harvest Moon. Not only is it the last of the Super Moon, spending time in contemplation in the moonlight will recapture meaning and energy for the busy season ahead.
This year, more than most, I feel akin to farmers and gardeners. While they are out in the fresh air for too many hours in the day toiling to bring in the harvest, I am sequestered behind my computer monitor, faced with a deluge of work. It appears the spell of summer has finally broken and now many of my customers are scrambling. Unlike the farmers who’ve been watching their crops grow and ripen, to me it feels as if a switch was thrown and demands for my time or action have come tumbling out of a machine.
Some days I feel like that classic scene with Lucille Ball at the candy factory, scrambling to get things right, stuffing some things in my pockets and hat just to keep up, only to have some yell, “Speed it up, Paul.”
Can you feel it? It’s Harvest time. It’s time to get going. For some it’s time to crack the books and start studying, or step it up to win the game. It’s a time when almost everyone feels as if hard work is needed, and we have plenty of motivation to keep working. It would seem to make sense that working even harder would be even better.
But would it?
What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.
Meister Eckhart
This is a season of change, and there’s one thing change always needs, and that is to be thought out. We have enough to do that it doesn’t make sense to be busy for the sake of being busy. Motivation, that pushes me onward, sometimes stops suddenly, often right before a critical deadline.
That’s why I’m advocating for contemplation.
Back on the farm, the outside work would end with the darkness. I would drag myself inside and try to watch some television and always felt drained. I never understood why my mother would prefer sitting quietly on the porch swing while the cicadas droned. But the next day, she would have already thought through what needed to be done, and would always have more than enough energy to make it through the next day, even enough to get me going on the task at hand.
Contemplation doesn’t have to be about solving the world’s problems, over even all of my own problems. It works well to bring myself into the moment, back to living consciously. It is a good time to look at what’s in front of me from a different angle, to realize when goals, or just tactics, need to be shifted. Somehow, the clarity of what needs to be done next helps foster energy and motivation.
Unlike other crops, what we plant in the soil of contemplation can mature overnight.
Then the harvest of action we get feeds our spirit, leaving us with a sense of accomplishment even when we know tomorrow there will be more customers calling, more homework at school, or more crops to be harvested.
The harvest season has only just begun. It would be easy to get discouraged about the amount of work to be done if we just work without a break. Swinging a metaphorical scythe all day the wrong way, or in the wrong field seems worse than just staying in bed. But we can’t stay in bed, there’s too much work to be done. Instead, sit on a swing, go for a stroll, or just sit quietly in reflection. Five minutes is enough to start. Contemplate what you’re doing, why you’re doing it. And enjoy a Super Harvest Moon, too.
How do you handle the busy-ness of the season?
Do you make time for contemplation?
How does it help?