Responding to the Call to Spontaneous Joy

Traditions can can be tricky. They help us create deeper meaning but they can also set us up for despair—getting ensnared in expectations and chasing emotional experiences from the past. I remember when I first became conscious of this as a young teen and I wondered where that magical feeling I used to have at Christmas time had gone. I spent years trying to find it through well established practices. It came only in occasional sprinkles.

In my personal life and on this Earth-plane so many things have changed for all of us. I’m trying to use this Thanksgiving holiday as a practice session for embracing the reality of controlling little and the necessity for letting things unfold. Many of my traditions involve connecting with nature and using communion with trees and other plants as an anchor to be present to the cycle of seasons. Though I’ve put myself in situations with the hopes of seeing intense fall color this year, I haven’t had any amazing experiences.

While driving past the park across from my house on the way to run some errands this morning on the day before Thanksgiving, I saw a large and colorful tree that I can’t remember ever connecting to in the past. “Come,” it said. “I’ve been waiting for you.” But I wanted to get to the store before it got crazy and told myself I’d stop on my way home— if I didn’t forget. Again on my way back, it beckoned me, “Come. Pause in the light of my colors. Let me be your moment of something spectacular today.”

I went. I stood next to her and under her and appreciated all the complexity of color variation just below that deep burgundy flame on her outermost leaves. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and the sunlight illuminated her leaves so that they glowed. “See,” she said. “You’ve never even noticed me before though I am not at all far from your front door. Listen and respond and you shall never be without something warm, lovely, and memorable, for the world is full of new opportunities for joyfully meaningful moments—especially when you don’t get so preoccupied with looking to the past. You have changed so much, and it is okay to allow what brings pleasure and purpose to evolve with you.”

When least expected, a moment presents itself. We only need to be still and receive it.