Maha Nasser: Autumn is the master of the seasons
As the seasons change, we feel the passage of time. I think I felt the passing of time more than ever, here in Sweden when I witnessed the seasons change. I almost cried once when a friend of mine told me that summer was about to go. I was saddened not by the end of summer and the advent of autumn, but by the passing of time with which so much of our lives pass. But today I am not in the process of talking about the passage of time, but I am in the process of pleading for the Master of the Seasons and my favorite season “Autumn.”
It saddens me that we are now about to bid farewell to autumn and welcome winter, and it also saddens me that we do not read or hear about autumn except within the framework of sentences that refer to endings, leaving, falling, breaking, and aging. There are people who do not like autumn and see it as a symbol of the end, and it is always referred to as an analogy to the difficult stages in our lives and to express the adversities that are going through us. For example, they liken youth to spring and aging to autumn. They see that autumn is the season of melancholy, farewell, departure, setbacks, and the end of things. In addition, it replaces the beloved and tender season, the summer season. Also, many do not like the cloudy, rainy, windy autumn weather. Autumn has gained this bad reputation, first, because it is a season in which growth stops and leaves fall, and it is the migration season for many birds that leave to search for warm places to spend the winter in, in addition to that, autumn portends the advent of a dark winter with freezing cold. So people do not like autumn and associate it with death and endings. But I totally disagree with them, because autumn is the season of beginnings and not the season of endings. Autumn refers to the completion of things, not the end of things. Autumn is a unique and special season and everything in it is magical and unique. The uniform green color makes us see the same trees all year round. We can not see the differences between them and see that they have different leaves and their own shape. But we can see their differences and uniqueness in the fall. Even the autumn flower is rare and unique. Autumn is the season of remaking the earth and preparing it for a new season and new life. It's the season that makes nature a model, tint and pose with her best looks. It is an expressive chapter on life in all its meanings, but in its own way. Autumn is the season in which we take a break from the hustle and bustle of a whole year, that with all its beauty and charm it makes us back to ourselves and rest from the hustle and bustle of life for a while. We get rid of everything that bothers us and take our decisions with renewal and change. Our sorrows and pains fall like leaves from trees. Then we bloom and are renewed as tree leaves are renewed.
Autumn is my favorite season, and despite the fact that I was not born in the fall, I found myself the daughter of Autumn. Yes, it is the season that makes me dive so deeply into the truth of things. The sight of leaves falling on the ground captivates me, and the sight of the colorful landscape of nature makes me silent for a moment and contemplate the beauty and creativity of the creator. It is the season of being alone with oneself and returning to it. Autumn promotes a sense of belonging and raises the desire of staying at home to enjoy the warmth, silence and a deep dive into the realities of things. It is a season in which our level of awareness rises and makes us think carefully and analyze a lot. Starting from the secret of life, to analyzing the details of our daily lives and our relationships with others. Therefore, autumn is said to be the wise season. We feel a great pleasure when we go out for a walk, and autumn leaves fall on us, or we run over them with our feet, or we push them to scatter and fly in front of us, and all our worries and sorrows fly with them. It is the season that makes me feel myself and return to it. I relive everything I have gone through during the previous years and look through my memory, happy moments stop me and I smile at them, sigh and furrow my eyebrows when I remember the painful ones. I judge myself and forgive it for its mistakes, and I take a promise to forget and move on. I cleanse my soul of everything that exhausts it. I am born again each fall. No season can make me sail as deep as autumn. I am captivated by its cold, its clouds, its shy, warm sun hiding behind the clouds, its cold breeze that brings me nostalgia, and its rain that takes me far away to a world woven of imagination.
Autumn deserves the title of the master of the seasons, and well-deservedly, as it is a mixture of all seasons, as it combines the awakening of spring, the warmth of summer, and the cold of winter, and it is the season of freedom and new beginnings, the season of warmth, love, intimacy and longing. It is the season of uniqueness, distinction, difference, and moderation. It is the season of contradictions and this is what distinguishes it from other seasons.
