Elul Day 3

Dear Elul Writers,

I am drawn to the perennial. Strolling through our local nursery, a begonia or vinca may catch my eye, but I usually head straight for the black eyed susans or gardenias, the coneflowers or mountain mint. I love the idea that season after season, year after year, these flowers will come back to us. An annual may find a place in a window box or a small planter, but I want our garden to be full of returning guests, old friends who arrive from early Spring to late Summer.

So much of the work of cheshbon hanefesh, the task of seeking to better understand ourselves, to prepare ourselves for the year to come, can also feel a bit like tending a garden. We give our attention to that which feels dry and undernourished or we prune back that which has grown out of control. Yet, even in this setting, I tend more towards my perennial challenges than the annual. In Elul, I can catch up with how I am progressing in being more patient with myself. Or, I can measure my growth towards being more self-disciplined in my work. Elul is a time when I can determine if I have been a more caring friend, sibling, partner and parent. Returning to these long-term goals each year, I can see just how slow progress shapes and reshapes me. These are my old guests, for better and for worse; I have come to know them well and expect to see them each Elul.

Still, I wonder if there is a way in which the tendency towards the long-term and the incremental can distract us from what is pressing at the moment. Perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves explicitly that the annual is as important as the perennial. Are we paying enough attention to the challenges that have only arisen this year? If, like me, you tend to avoid conflict, can you redirect yourself to those issues that might need your immediate attention? Can we stretch ourselves to focus both on the perennial and the annual?

Prompt

The word shanah in Hebrew is derived from the root shin / nun / hey (.ש.נ.ה). Like many Hebrew roots, it holds within it multiple layers of meaning. On the one hand, shanah indicates a repetition or a cycle. On the other, these same letters are indicative of change. If the perennial issues we encounter in Elul are encapsulated in the aspect of repetition, the annual issues can be found within the side of shanah that is about change. We will spend plenty of time this month on the perennial, today let’s focus on the changes that are particular to this year. What sprouted up for you this year that deserves your attention before embarking on a new one? Are there specific events or conversations or conflicts from the past year that need tending to? We are so early in the month, let’s take advantage of the weeks we have in front of us to schedule conversations or to block off time to spend alone. Here’s to the zinnias, the petunias, the snapdragons and all of our annuals.

Bivracha,
Jordan