01 Sep Thoughts On The Month Of September
This year, the month of September begins very neatly on a Monday, the first day of a the work week, and on a holiday that marks the unffocial end of summer. So, it got me to thinking…
September is a crossroads month. It contains both beginnings and endings.
When I was growing up, school always began after the Labor Day holiday. Recent trends to start the school year earlier and earlier in August have been met with complaints and consternation. I think some of this has to do with the fact that for as long as we have been humans, we have observed ritual in our lives.
There is something very harmonic about starting something as momentous as beginning one’s academic undertakings at the start of a new month; following a holiday; and along with a shift in the seasons.
From kindergarten through college, I always looked forward to the beginning of a new school year. It was much more symbolic for me than any new year’s celebration on January 1st. This was the real time to begin anew. New crayons, new socks, new classes and new resolutions.
While not always, this year Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year occurs in September.
September 1 is the first day of meteorological Fall, but we more often refer to the astrological date later in the moth. This year, September 22 will be both the last day of summer, and the first day of Autumn.
Summer gardens at their peak of abundance will now begin to wither and fade away. (All except the zucchini plants, I don’t think those things ever die.)
September also marks the end of the federal fiscal year, but I’ll let someone else try to find deeper meaning in this one.
One other way to think about this somewhat innocuous month is the name itself.
September comes from the Latin word for seven, septem. In the old Roman or Julian calendar that aligned the months astrologically, the new year began in the Spring, making late summer/early fall the seventh month of the year. Once countries began adopting the Gregorian Calendar beginning in the 1500’s, September slipped to ninth place in the year, but the name stuck.
Lucky number 7 is called so for a reason. Every major religion – Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism all view the number seven as having special significance. Just look around, there is no shortage of the number seven playing a significant role: seven days of the week, seven continents, seven chakra colors/colors in the light spectrum, seven deadly sins and seven wonders of the world. I could go on and on. Since the number seven has long had such a special significance, the seventh month, likewise, was considered important.
Beginnings, endings. My challenge I would l share with you is to find places for good beginnings and endings in your life this month.
I have made a personal pledge to begin something anew and end something as well.
My beginning is a pretty obvious one, I am going public and publishing this blog which I first set up in 2010. There’s no time like the present.
My ending is a finishing project. Earlier this year I bought an app for my IPhone that is supposed to train you to run a 5K race. Nothing major; I’ve never been a runner but thought this might be a good way to get more cardio into my workout routine. I should have finished in the Spring, but of course I didn’t. My goal is to finish tthe training this month, and put an end to me feeling guilty for not having done so.
How will YOU celebrate the crossroads of September with beginnings and endings?