The Turning of the Seasons: From Summer to Autumn

The turn from summer to autumn is more than a shift in weather; it is a quiet transformation that we feel in both the world around us and in ourselves.

The brightness and expansiveness of summer give way to softer light, cooler air, and the slow falling of leaves. In this season, endings are visible: the fading of warmth, the retreat of colour, the drawing in of days. Yet within this change lies a particular beauty. Autumn holds the poetry of letting go.

For many, this transition stirs a mixture of feelings. There may be comfort in the gathering inwards, in the rhythms of routine returning. There may also be a tinge of sadness, a reminder of time passing and the inevitability of change.

In therapy, we often notice how the outer seasons echo the inner ones. Autumn invites us to reflect: what is ripening within me, ready to be harvested? What am I holding onto that may now be released? Just as the trees shed their leaves, we too may sense what we are ready to let fall away.

To meet autumn with awareness is to recognise both its melancholy and its richness. Endings can carry grief, but also the promise of space, space for rest, for reflection, and for what may yet come to life again.

As the days grow shorter, you might pause to ask yourself: what is this season inviting me to let go of, and what might it be quietly preparing me to welcome?

Hannah Downing, Psychodynamic Psychotherapist

📧 hannah@enter-therapy.co.uk