Autumn

And just like that, Fall has arrived. 

Changes

Today feels like Fall has arrived. The air is crisp with rain falling on and off and the fog is drooped off the tree tops. Some of the leaves are beginning to change, as well. 

Some changes in life are beyond our control, while other changes, we choose. Change is inevitable. Many of the most difficult changes are when they come out of nowhere and slam into us, unexpectedly.  

How do you handle change? Do you run from it, embrace it, or push through and figure it out as you go? Personally, I do all three. This week we were faced with that unexpected, knock the breath out of us change. It's been difficult. It isn't anything personal, but happened to someone we know and who is a mentor to us. My reaction was shock, anger, sadness, and wanting to help wherever I could. 

Change is inevitable, but how we choose to handle it is a choice. Even if we feel anger, how we respond in that anger is the key. 

Ecclesiastes 3 says this about change: 

For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven:

2     A time to be born, a time to die;
        a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest;
3     A time to kill, a time to heal;
        a time to tear down, a time to build up;
4     A time to cry, a time to laugh;
        a time to mourn, a time to dance;
5     A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up;
        a time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance;
6     A time to search, a time to give up as lost;
        a time to keep, a time to throw out;
7     A time to tear apart, a time to bind together;
        a time to be quiet, a time to speak up;
8     A time to love, a time to hate;
        a time to go to war, a time to make peace.

Reconnecting

It's been awhile since I have written, blogged, or even really gone out and spent a day with my camera. Writing and photography are things I enjoy and ways I express myself, work through things, release stress, process life, so when I haven't done much of either, frustration sets in. We were created to be creative. When I'm not, I seem to forget to connect to the things I enjoy most, I don't take time to see the beauty in life, and I get much more stressed. I need to take time to back to what I enjoy, things that I'm passionate about. I have missed writing. A lot. It has been awhile since I have put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard. 

What do you find therapeutic? How do you creatively express yourself? Have you done it lately? If not, I challenge you to go to your creative outlet and take time to reconnect to it, and connect with yourself.